A headteacher has been appointed for the proposed Beccles Free School, with a final decision expected to be made on the bid by the end of the month.

The Seckford Foundation Free Schools Trust, which is bidding to open the high school, has announced that John Lucas, director of learning at the Thomas Clarkson Community College in Wisbech, will be the headteacher, although the bid is yet to be given the go ahead by the government.

A spokesman for the trust said: 'The appointments were made after communication with local groups and the Department for Education by the Free Schools Trust, which commented that the appointment of principal and headteachers of such quality would give the two schools even greater momentum than before.

'The final approval for the opening of the proposed Free Schools is expected by the end of the month.'

The free school would open in September on the site of Carlton Colville Primary School before moving to the site of Beccles Middle School in 2014.

Among the opposition to the bid are Waveney MP Peter Aldous and Suffolk County Council leader Mark Bee.

Alex Hayes, vice principal of the Open Academy in Norwich, has been announced as the headteacher for the trust's proposed Saxmundham Free School.