The island has appealed for families to move there

BBC Scotland can reveal that the teacher is turning up for work, but its sole pupil is being kept away because of a feud on the island.

Papa Stour lies off the west of Shetland and has a population of just over 20.

In 1992 a request for new families to move there gained worldwide media attention.

Last summer the school closed, but opened again on Monday with a roll of just one pupil.

Drugs hostel

But it has come to light that the student's mother is keeping her child out of the school.

It is claimed the teacher is friendly with a couple who want to open a hostel for recovering drug addicts on the island.

The controversial planning application has already been thrown out by Shetland Islands Council, but it is still dividing the community.

It was a nice bit of positive news when the school opened Reverend Adrian Glover

The local authority has declined to be drawn on this latest twist, except to say that it has fulfilled its statutory responsibility by appointing a qualified teacher and opening the island's school.

Guest house owner Sibina Holt Brook said the community had "nothing to fear" over the hostel.

She said: "If they had noted in the last three weeks the young man we have staying here has been no problem to anybody and is unlikely to be."

Island 'overshadowed'

The school closure was "a sad situation" and the reaction to the hostel was difficult to understand, she added.

However, the Reverend Adrian Glover said the school was viewed as "a barometer" of how the community was working.

He said: "It was a nice bit of positive news when the school opened and then a surprise to hear that the pupil wasn't going to start right away.

"The feeling on the island is that while we have a lot of things to look forward to, it's been overshadowed by the drug hostel application."