FOUR Halton schools are to have major works carried out over the summer to fix long-standing health hazards.

The council is stumping up more than £700,000 towards work at Fairfield high, Wade Deacon, Daresbury and Chesnut Lodge special school, where decaying structures pose a risk to pupils.

It had been hoped that the New Deal for Schools would provide the necessary funds, but a successful £1.8 million bid to demolish Ditton primary and rebuild it on a new site left nothing available for other projects.

The spending was agreed at a meeting of the council's policy committee last week.

Fairfield is to get £415,000 for rebuilding some changing rooms which have turned into damp and dilapidated tenements.

Wade Deacon is to get £150,000 to ease overcrowding in its science facilities. The work - which will be part-funded by the proceeds from the sale of the school's caretaker house - involves renovating the laboratories and building extra classrooms.

The school is also getting an extra £130,000 for its new dance and drama block. This goes with a previously allotted £300,000.

The over-crowding, combined with "serious breaches of safety legislation" such as the lack of a mains cut-off switch and cracked floor tiles, means pupils are risking their safety.

Daresbury primary is to have asbestos removal work done on the roof of an old storage unit. This pressing work will cost £12,400. Chesnut Lodge is to have the play areas outside its infant and nursery rooms improved to remove trip hazards (cost £9,350).

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