Roof height delays school rebuild

Seventy firefighters tackled the blaze at the school in September 2006

Building work on a new primary school, to replace one which burnt down 18 months ago, has been delayed due to a mistake with construction drawings.

Pupils from Lympne Church of England School, near Hythe, have been taught at another school since the blaze in 2006.

The new building was due to have been finished next month, but work has been hindered because the rear roof is higher than planning proposals allow.

The school is seeking to resolve the problem with Kent County Council.

However, chair of governors, Glenn Clark, said he believed the earliest the school could now be completed was mid-September.

All other works are carrying on at that school, it is only the area of the roof that is in question Mark Dance, Kent County Council

Head teacher Joyce Rhodes added that the delay would affect the teaching of the children, as they had to be taken by bus to their temporary home at St Mary's Westbrook School, in Folkestone.

"They have an extra hour-and-a-half on their day... and the children really need to be in their community," she said.

Mark Dance, from Kent County Council, said an alternative proposal to construct a glass atrium to replace the extra height of the roof was turned down by the consultants' insurers.

He said another way of resolving the issue was to apply for retrospective planning permission to approve the extra height, which was point eight of a metre, but local residents were against this.

Mr Dance conceded that someone at the council should have seen the fault in the drawings, but said a meeting would be held with the school on 13 May.

"All other works are carrying on at that school, it is only the area of the roof that is in question, it is not the rest of the school."