Forty per cent of the teachers who failed to get jobs after Bradford's schools shake-up have taken voluntary redundancy.

They have walked away with payoffs ranging from £2,000 to £25,000 after losing their jobs in middle schools which have been abolished. And the cost of their wages and payoffs totals £4.6 million this year, Bradford Council has revealed.

But ten per cent of so-called 'supernumerary' teachers have still not been placed, and will stay on as extra staff for another academic year, costing the Council £500,000 per year in wages.

When the switch to two-tier schools took place, 1,400 middle school teachers had to find new jobs in primary or secondary schools.

All but 190 did, and they were guaranteed jobs in schools even if there were no vacancies due to a pledge by the former ruling Labour group that no teachers would face the sack because of the shake-up.

The problem of these 'supernumerary' teachers, and 114 support staff has been a costly headache for the Council, which has had to pay their wages.

But progress has now been made in finding them new permanent jobs, or agreeing to voluntary redundancy, according to Stephen Pearce, human resources manager for the school re-organisation programme.

He said: "Following meetings in early June, it was agreed that voluntary severance should be offered to those staff remaining supernumerary. As a result, 76 teachers and 42 support staff have accepted severance, and will leave this summer."

A total of 95 supernumerary teachers and 52 per cent of the 114 supernumerary support staff have slotted into school jobs which have become vacant this year, leaving just 19 teachers and 12 support staff still on the Council's payroll.

The supernumerary staff will remain the Council's responsibility and will not transfer to Serco, the new private company taking over education services on Monday.

Councillor Elaine Byrom, chairman of the education scrutiny committee, said: "What had seemed an insurmountable mountain has turned into a fairly manageable issue. But we need to remember that these are human beings."

Ian Murch, of the Bradford branch of the NUT, said: "The Council was slow in getting round to dealing with this problem but things have improved since Easter. For the remaining 19, it should invest in appropriate training - a few thousand on retraining would be money well spent, as there's a shortage of teachers."