'Unclear future' for classrooms

Windows are bolted shut for safety

A Devon school which is using crumbling temporary classrooms from World War II has been told by the county council improvements cannot be guaranteed.

About 60% of the teaching at Chulmleigh Community College is carried out in 17 temporary classrooms - four of which are Horsa huts built in 1947.

Some are in such a poor state of repair that a window fell in during a lesson.

The council said it will deal with the Horsa huts this summer, but no commitments can be made beyond that.

Safety concerns

The news, received in an email from council leader Brian Greenslade to the chair of Chulmleigh school governors, has come as a bitter blow to the parents who have fought hard for better classrooms.

Mr Greenslade said the council could not give any commitments for 2008 until it knew what resources would be available.

In February parents with children at the school marched on County Hall to express their anger and concerns over safety and their children's ability to study.

Parent Bob Charlton described a temporary classroom he was in this week as "more like a third-world shanty town than a modern Devon school".

The parents have said they are now considering going directly to the government to try to get more investment.