'Beyond repair' Wetherby High School to be rebuilt at £25m cost

Wetherby High School is one of the oldest in the Leeds council area

A crumbling secondary school under threat of closure due to its state of disrepair is to be completely rebuilt.

It will cost about £25m to rebuild Wetherby High School with the council looking at selling off school land for housing to help pay for it.

Millions of pounds have already been spent on maintenance and asbestos work but further investment was needed to prevent closure, a report said.

The new school is expected to be completed by September 2024.

Leeds City Council leader James Lewis said the decision was a "culmination of years of work" trying to rebuild the school, which dates back to World War Two.

The school's current condition is described as "extremely poor" with a report adding: "Just addressing the urgent and health and safety issues on a reactive basis is not considered to be sustainable or value for money."

Mr Lewis said the plan was to rebuild the school, on a smaller site with 900 pupil spaces, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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Proposals also include reducing the school land area from 18.3 acres to 10.5 acres with the remaining land being sold for housing to raise between £9m and £12m towards the rebuild.

The council said the school's sixth form, which stopped taking on new pupils in 2019, would still not be "financially sustainable" and would not be included in the rebuild.