A headteacher is furious after a prestigious refurbishment to his school ended with him having to apologise to visitors for the mess.

Allan Mirfield of Priestthorpe First School, Mornington Road, Bingley, won a Government grant of £25,000 and used £8,000 in donations to restore the derelict upper floor to its former glory.

But according to Mr Mirfield, within just two months of the work beginning in February last year, problems were occurring with some of the ceiling tiles in the staircase of the main entrance.

But Bradford Council has denied responsibility and insist the school is responsible for sorting the work.

In a letter to Mick Barraclough, a senior buildings officer with the council, Mr Mirfield complained that problems began within two months of the ceiling being fitted, and re-occurred on several occasions.

In a letter to Mr Barraclough, he said: "I stress again all this should have been foreseen and there is no way we are going to pay for the short-sighted and inadequate planning and designing which put us in this position.

"The 'evidence' of the hole in the ceiling is a testimony to the fact and I continue to apologise to visitors on your behalf."

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: "Refurbishment work was carried out at Priestthorpe about two years ago after the school bid for New Deal money from the Department for Education and Employment.

"Unfortunately, they did not bid for enough money to cover all the work the school subsequently wanted to do and a number of items were dropped.

"However, all the work which the school finally settled on was carried out to the correct standard. We have explained to the school that this is a normal building repair which the school is responsible for dealing with."

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