By Eddie Bisknell

Hundreds of pupils at a Newhall Community Junior School could be temporarily relocated while urgent £2 million repairs are made to its buildings.

Derbyshire County Council intends to make the costly repairs later this year to the school near Swadlincote.

The school, in Chesterfield Avenue, has 341 pupils on roll and was last rated by education watchdog Ofsted as "requiring improvement".

The county council says in its key capital projects for the coming financial year: "Newhall Junior School is classed as a building at risk and is a high priority.

"The roof, which contains asbestos, requires replacement as a matter of urgency, however, given the presence of asbestos, the project is likely to involve the temporary relocation of the school whilst the work is carried out."

William Allitt School, a secondary, and Newhall Infant and Nursery School, share the same site as the junior school.

In May 2018, the county council revealed that it was in discussions with central government to either rebuild or redevelop William Allitt, which has around 700 pupils, due to its disrepair.

In October 2018, Steve Frost, its chair of governors, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the school should be demolished and rebuilt to save money.He had said that £10 million in repairs were needed but that it could be bulldozed and rebuilt for between £17 million and £25 million.

Mr Frost had urged the Department for Education to rethink how it is funding school repair schemes and to look into a long-term solution for William Allitt which would require wholesale rebuilding.

The DfE did not say whether it would support having the school rebuilt but that it was compiling data on schools across the UK to ensure funding for repairs was going to the places where it was "needed most".

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: "Our plans for the refurbishment of Newhall Junior School are at a very early stage and the full scope of the work and time-scales are yet to be determined.

"We're also looking at a number of options for the replacement of William Allitt School, and are considering this along with the need to refurbish Newhall Junior School.

"Once we're a little further with our plans we will start to look at the options for where a temporary home for Newhall Junior could be."

Newhall Junior School was approached for comment but did not respond.