WALES’ first residential ballet school is being boarded up just five months after it opened because a property deal for the site fell through.

Abergavenny's Primo Balletto at The Hill opened at the former Coleg Gwent campus in Pen y Pound in August last year with space for 80 dance students.

Local entrepreneur Dr Olinga Ta’eed leased the site from Coleg Gwent and had planned to buy it.

But the property deal, believed to worth around £2 million, has now fallen through, forcing the school to move out.

Dr Ta’eed said yesterday that falling property prices and the delay in lifting a covenant on the site had meant the project was no longer viable.

He said he now had no choice but to board up the building and handed the keys back to Coleg Gwent earlier this week.

He said: "During the 11 months between agreement and contract exchange, property values have fallen dramatically which meant the agreed price was no longer sustainable for our funders."

Classes are continuing at Mulberry House, Primo Balletto Youth Ballet is rehearsing for its latest production in March, and the Primo Balletto Associate Programme which works with talented students who aspire to a career in dance will continue.

But 140 ballet students from across the globe who were due to start at the school in September will be told they can no longer attend, said Dr Ta’eed.

Dr Ta’eed’s bid to turn The Hill into a ballet school was supported by more than 15 community groups, and when the school opened in August it created 34 jobs and attracted promising dancers from across the UK.

Since then Dr Ta’eed says he has spent £200,000 on surveys, staff and major refurbishments, but as the property market began to suffer the deal to buy the site came under threat.

Dr Ta’eed said he offered to make up the gap between Coleg Gwent’s asking price and his valuation on a deferred basis but this was refused.

The final straw came in December when a burst water main meant that the site was left without water for a month.

Dr Ta’eed said he was willing to enter into talks with Coleg Gwent and support them in turning the building into a community asset.

A Coleg gwent spokesman said: "Difficulty in securing adequate funding in the current economic climate has meant Coleg Gwent and Dr Ta’eed have reluctantly agreed to terminate the agreement they had in place on the sale of the college’s The Hill site in Abergavenny.

"Both parties have been in regular contact over the past few months and have now agreed that there is no immediate prospect of completing the agreed deal.

"The college will now review its position and consider its options for the disposal of The Hill."

Jim Bennett, Principal of Coleg Gwent, said the college was "extremely disappointed".