The dismantling of a historic summerhouse at an Oxford school is to be investigated by the local government ombudsman.

The ombudsman will examine Oxford city council's involvement in a bitter conservation wrangle at St Aloysius First School, in Woodstock Road.

Residents were upset at the school's determination to pull down the rare 1890s summerhouse for safety reasons.

And there were further protests last autumn after it emerged that city council planning officer Philip Turner was intending to move the Victorian building into his garden.

Mr Turner said he had been acting in the interest of conservation. A city council investigation into his conduct decided against disciplinary action.

But the council will now be investigated, after a complaint from a resident in St Margaret's Road, who said part of the summerhouse was dismantled, despite being protected.

She said: "It may only be a small building but this involves a big principle."

The ombudsman will also look at whether the council failed to enforce a planning condition to retain the summerhouse or acted unfairly in its reliance on legal advice from Oxfordshire County Council.

The county council had attached a condition that the summerhouse be retained before giving planning approval for the school's extension plan. But it later emerged that the protection only existed while building work was being carried out.