HAMPSHIRE County Council school bosses have revealed a list of schools which may be in need of urgent repairs.

The list covers all of Hampshire outside Southampton and Portsmouth.

The bill adds up to £150 million to remedy a catalogue of problems including leaking roofs, worn ceilings and ageing electrical systems.

In some cases, fire safety precautions do not meet modern standards and asbestos panels require high levels of maintenance.

Hampshire has 449 of the at-risk SCOLA buildings - the cheap, mass-built classrooms and structures which were erected during the 1960s to combat spiralling pupil numbers.

Southampton City Council has inherited 12 SCOLA infant and junior schools.

Headteachers today called for urgent action to halt a steady breakdown in the fabric of the school buildings.

Rhod Porch, head of Sun Hill Junior School in Alresford, expressed no surprise at the massive price tag, saying his own campus needed £300,000 to bring it up to scratch.

He argued there was a pressing need for all SCOLA buildings to be replaced as quickly as possible.

Mr Porch said: "I have worked in seven schools in 24 years and six of them were SCOLAs.

"These buildings were all put up at the same time and they are all failing at the same time.

"They are bound to fail because of their construction."

Mr Porch sought to reassure parents over the issue of asbestos, insisting there was no need for alarm.

"There are very strict procedures in all schools about this and in my experience it is not a problem," he said.

Bob Jones, Hampshire secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "We would have to be looking for some kind of national funding to solve the SCOLA problem.

"Imagine the cost of replacing 450 schools. Even if it's over 10 years, it would cost the education service a huge amount of money which could be spent on pupils.

"I know council policy is to build on the short term basis for 40 or 50 years.

"There could be an awful lot of schools which could run out of their lifetime at once and maintenance could prove impossible or extremely costly.

"What's required is for someone to do a full audit of the buildings we have and the condition they are in - a long term strategic view needs to be taken."

A Health and Safety Executive spokesman said schools were regularly inspected. "Schools are part of our remit.

"Generally speaking, if it's something run by a local authority, that local authority cannot inspect itself.

"We inspect and advise on health and safety and take enforcement action if we see fit."

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