COLWALL Primary School will be moving into portable classrooms for at least a year while a major problem with damp is dealt with.

The school at Colwall Green, which currently has 189 pupils on its roll, has been suffering from increasing problems with damp over that past few years, and now the decision has been made to take drastic action.

While pupils are enjoying the long summer break, a new school including seven classrooms, offices, school hall and all other facilities will be erected nearby using portable buildings.

When the autumn term starts in September, pupils will move into the temporary school while work is carried out to locate and deal with the problem.

The move was revealed to parents at a meeting in the village hall, where governors and council officers explained the situation.

Head Judith Tinsley, who has been in the post since last September, said that as the summer term ended this week, staff were busy packing up books and equipment ready for the move.

She said: "I understand the problem was first noticed about three years ago, and it's been getting steadily worse since.

"It was initially blamed on leaking pipes, but it's not that, and some major invasive work has to be carried out to locate the problem and hopefully fix it. That's why the decision has been made to move into temporary accommodation for the next year."

Mrs Tinsley said the problem is so bad that even in the recent hot spell, dehumidifiers have been running 14 hours a day to keep parts of the school usable.

Jo Davidson, director of children’s wellbeing at Herefordshire Council, said: “While the news of the move was of course a surprise for parents, we have been able to reassure them of the council, governors and staff efforts to ensure continuity of education for their children. The temporary buildings will be near to the existing school and there were many offers of support from parents and friends of the school to assist with the packing up, moving and unpacking.”

The cost of the operation has not yet been revealed.