A DILAPIDATED Yate school is to be demolished and completely rebuilt in a major multi-million pound project.

Wellesley Primary School fought off fierce competition for South Gloucestershire Council's backing for the three-year development and staff and governors are delighted with the £2.3 million cash injection.

Correne Witchard, chairman of governors, argued the safety of pupils was being compromised by the run-down buildings.

She said: "The school has been a target of vandalism as young people climb on the roof to smash the skylights. Our main concern is for the safety of the children, although classrooms are restricted and teaching spaces limited.

"Those problems will diminish with this new building."

She added: "We have had a very successful Ofsted report but one major issue raised was the core accommodation.

"It imposes significant restrictions on Years 1 to 6 and we have actively publicised that the school needs modernising."

She said buckets had to be placed around the school when it rains because of leaks from the flat roof.

The school has already submitted a planning application to demolish the existing classrooms and build new ones.

A total of £2,350,000 will be ploughed into the school and work will start in January 2006.

Executive member for education, Cllr Sheila Cook, said the cabinet had faced a dilemma in choosing where the limited funding should go.

She said: "How do we choose? They are all very valid schemes in their own right but the bottom line, for me, is how I would feel about my child going to those schools."

Leader of the council Cllr Neil Halsall said: "This is a continuous process. We are trying to solve as many problems as we can this year but we cannot solve them all."

In February, the Gazette reported how £40 million was needed to bring all South Gloucestershire's schools up to standard.

Trinity Primary School, Acton Turville, missed out on any funding even though headteacher Mark Toogood argued investment there should be a priority.

He said: "It is impossible to make the site and building secure. Children have to move between classes and the main building and it is very difficult to constantly monitor them. It is unsatisfactory."

Last year the school play had to be performed in Chipping Sodbury - some seven miles away - at "great expense" to the school.

Bids from Pucklechurch Primary School and Brimsham Green School, Yate, were also rejected despite pupils suffering a lack of facilities, adequate teaching space, rotting buildings and problems with drainage.

Staff may still win the council's support when funding available to all council departments is allocated in two weeks.