PUPILS, staff and parents at Colwall Primary School love the new premises which have been erected while damp problems at the main building are investigated, head Judith Tinsley said this week.

The school at Colwall Green, which has about 190 children on its roll, has been suffering from increasing damp over the past few years.

And by the summer, the situation had got so bad that the decision was made to build a whole temporary school, while the problem is sorted out.

The new school, composed of portable buildings, went up during the summer holidays, and when term started a couple of weeks ago, children found a whole new environment. It includes seven classrooms, offices, a school hall and other facilities.

"We love it, the children love it and the parents love it," said Mrs Tinsley. "From the inside, you wouldn't guess it was made of portable buildings."

The school is expected to be in its temporary quarters for at least 12 months while investigations continue into the damp problem and what can be done about it.

Mrs Tinsley said: "The most recent hydrology tests seem to show that it's spring water coming into the school, but where from, and why it's getting worse, I don't know.

"One day in August, just after the bank holiday rain but otherwise during a long dry spell the water was coming up through a tiled floor so fast, you couldn't mop it away."

She said everyone at the school is very grateful to all those involved with the building of the new school and all who helped out with the move, including the nearby Elms prep school, which allowed the school to use its field.

The new school will be officially opened today (Friday, October 3) by the Bishop of Ludlow, the Rt Rev Alistair Magowan.