Investigation finds many schools contain asbestos

Investigation finds many schools contain asbestos

Most state school buildings in South East England contain asbestos, according to an investigation.

The BBC's Inside Out programme revealed the potentially-deadly material remains in more than 90 per cent of schools.

Kent, Medway, Sussex, Brighton and Surrey councils all revealed a high proportion of properties affected.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it would be dangerous to remove asbestos sealed inside buildings.

However, John Walder, secretary of the NUT Kent branch, said: "The NUT's view is quite clear, we think that the solution is the complete removal of asbestos from all the working spaces.

"As long as local authorities do not remove asbestos from a site, there will be a risk of fibres getting into the atmosphere and getting into people's lungs."

Dr Robin Howie, an independent asbestos consultant, said the number of teachers dying of asbestos-related diseases in the UK had risen from about one every two years to more than five a year.

He said:"We are looking at a substantially higher number of mesothelioma deaths in teachers than we would expect.

"What it means is that teacher mesotheliomas are important because they are the tip of the iceberg. And that iceberg are the mesotheliomas in children."