A five-year-old Egilsay boy is hoping he will get his own ferry service so he can learn alongside his classmates ­ but it could mean the end of the line for an island school.

Jordan Bashford - Egilsay school's only pupil

Dave and Margaret Basford, who are both in their 50s, have been campaigning for three years to get ferry times changed to enable their grandson, Jordan, who lives with them, to attend Rousay Primary School, on a full-time basis.

Margaret said: "The council have known that he would be going to school for three years now and we have highlighted the fact that the ferry times do not coincide with school times.

"We want him to go to Rousay so that he can mix with other children and learn to socialise so he is part of a group and has his own support structure."

However, the current ferry timetable means Jordan goes across to Rousay Primary three days a week. He attends classes between 10.10am to 1.15pm, when the ferry takes him back to Egilsay.

The other two days he is taught in Egilsay school ­ where he is the only pupil ­ when a teacher from Rousay travels across to the island.

Earlier this year, Orkney Islands Council advertised a tender for the operation of a boat service to take little Jordan to Rousay Primary, but it fell through.

Now the OIC has advertised a second time and although the family are hopeful that this will resolve the problem for Jordan, they know that it will result in the closure of Egilsay school.

"We would obviously be very sad to see the school close because it is the lifeblood of any island.

"And it means it could be difficult to attract new families to the island but we have to do what's best for Jordan," said Margaret.

"He just wants to be in school with his friends, not sitting in a classroom from 9am to 4pm by himself."

However, she would like to praise the teachers for their efforts: "The headmistress at the school has been very supportive throughout all of this time.

"They have changed timetables so Jordan can join in and have even brought the whole class to Egilsay a couple of times."

Kevin Balfour, of the OIC's education department, said it was hoped that the situation would finally be resolved within the next few weeks.

He said: "All of the tenders were in this week so we will arrange a suitable time to look through them. Then a decision will be made as soon as possible after that."

When asked if that would mean Egilsay School would close permanently, he said: "That would be a decision which would be made further down the line once we see how the service goes."

A council spokesman added: "The council has decided to instigate an extensive consultation process into the possibility of the discontinuation of the school.

"It has been recommended by the education committee that pupils, in future, should attend Rousay."

Councillor Jim Moar, who represents both islands on OIC, said: "This is a bleak situation for the community and just because you live on an island doesn't mean you should be penalised.

"However, if you do move to a remote area then you have to suffer the consequences.

"I will be very sorry to see the school go if it comes to that."