School asbestos removal among £2.5m council spend

Clockwise: Aylestone School, Brookfield School, Wigmore School and Ashfield Park primary will all see improvement works

More than £500,000 has been earmarked for "urgent works" to remove asbestos and repair windows at a Hereford secondary school.

The need for the work at Aylestone School came to light during other emergency works by contractor S C Joseph to fix concrete panels, the council said.

Herefordshire Council expects it to cost up to £456,000, with a further £57,000 for professional fees.

The work was not tendered for as the council feared "further procurement would delay the completion" and leave "a health and safety issue on site."

Meanwhile, a contractor has been announced to carry out a £5.8m expansion at a Hereford school for children with special educational needs.

Speller Metcalfe of Malvern will build a new sports hall and two-class teaching block at The Brookfield School and also carry out internal alterations.

The project is funded by £4m from the government, with Herefordshire Council making up the remaining £1.8m.

Elsewhere, more than £200,000 is to be spent improving lighting and ceilings at Ashfield Park primary school, Ross-on-Wye.

The council awarded the contract for the works to Gloucestershire firm Snape Construction.

And new canopies and an outside seating area at Wigmore High School near Leominster will cost £77,000, funded by a section 106 agreement with the developer of a 39-home estate in Orleton.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.