Three comprehensives have emerged as the first in the Bradford district which could be rebuilt through the controversial private finance initiative (PFI).

Salt Grammar, Tong School and Buttershaw High are the subject of the "first phase" bid to the Government which was being submitted by Bradford Council today.

If successful, they would be rebuilt using private sector cash starting in 2004. They would be owned and run by the private company and leased back to each school, while support staff such as kitchen workers, grounds maintenance and cleaning staff would transfer to the private firm's payroll.

Plans to rebuild two other comprehensives - Beckfoot and Grange Technology College - plus new special schools will be included in a 'second wave' bid to be put in over the next few weeks.

Today Councillor John Cole, a governor at Salt Grammar in Baildon, said the governing body had agreed to an "expression of interest" in the PFI scheme but was not yet committed to it. He said a final decision would be made in March once more details were available in the form of an outline business case.

If the scheme goes ahead, the school's ageing concrete main block would be replaced by new facilities to be built on the existing site in Coach Road. A new block, opened by Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2000, would be unaffected.

Coun Cole said he felt the huge PFI bid, with its far-reaching implications, should be fully debated by councillors.

He said: "We do need an open and honest appraisal of this and a public debate before we have reached a point where it's irrevocable."

Unions share the reservations of some governors that PFI could turn out to be poor value for money in the long run, and could reduce accountability for the running of school buildings.

Ian Murch, of the Bradford branch of the National Union of Teachers, said: "It doesn't surprise me that Bradford's PFI bid changes from day to day - it does not seem to have been based on a solid rationale."