ASBESTOS removal at North Yorkshire's largest comprehensive school could take until December 2001 to complete.

Workers are busy at South Craven School in Cross Hills taking out asbestos panels which were installed when the school was built in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The school, which has 1,700 pupils, was given a massive £3 million grant to carry out the work and although it is on schedule, school chiefs have revealed it will take a further 15 months to rid the building of the potentially dangerous substance.

"The work was started in July and it will take around 15 to 18 months to carry out," said deputy headteacher David Birks.

"What happens is the workmen move into an area, completely seal it off, clear out all the asbestos, put in new roofs if needed and re-decorate.

"If there are improvements to be made, then the school has contributed towards this."

Asbestos removal in the school's social education department has been completed, with the area totally refurbished.

Work has now started on the social studies and mathematics areas, with the art and technology sections being tackled next month.

Many rooms at South Craven School have wall and ceiling panels that contain material which can be hazardous if its dust is breathed in in large quantities.

But experts say there is no cause for concern.

Specialist consultants were brought in to conduct nearly 300 tests throughout the whole school. Only nine areas showed a marginally higher than normal risk and these were dealt with last year.

Action to remove asbestos at South Craven School was taken following new rules introduced in 1998.

The work has meant some changes to teaching venues for students and staff.

"The main aim is to maintain a normal service and ensure the students are getting a full curriculum," added Mr Birks. "Staff have worked very hard to do that."

The asbestos removal will coincide with building work, including classroom extensions.

* Students and staff at South Craven School are getting used to a new timetable brought in to cope with the number of subjects being taught.

A fortnightly timetable has been introduced to allow more time to be set aside for art, music, drama and information technology.

This means that on one week students could have different lesson lengths to the following week.

"It doesn't seem to be causing any major problems," said Mr Birks.