Ashmole Primary School will undergo half a million pounds worth of emergency pipe repairs – nearly four years after its heating and hot water system was found to need replacing.

This is after the school has been disrupted by heating and hot water issues.

Lambeth Council gets allocated money each year by the government for major repairs to schools.

The authority has already spent £250,000 since 2015/16 upgrading the school’s boiler plant.

It had originally expected to finish fixing the school's pipework, the second phase of the work, over the summer of 2020 to avoid disrupting the pupils, but the pipes were so broken the repairs were brought forward to prevent an incident which would close the school for an extended period, a council report said.

“Unfortunately the existing distribution pipework, much of it underground and thus impossible to assess, has not proved even robust enough to last until the programmed window,” the report explained.

“The school has suffered serious leaks, system shut-downs and consequential damage particularly to external areas as pipes are excavated and reinstated.”

The £498,736.43 work will be carried out from this month until next April .

A Lambeth Council spokesman said: “The health and well-being of all our pupils and staff is our highest priority. We have worked hard, and invested heavily in resolving the heating problems at Ashmole Primary School since they were first identified, to ensure pupils and staff can carry on their work with the minimum of disruption.

“Unfortunately, the heating and hot water distribution system has deteriorated more rapidly than anticipated. In particular, it’s become clear that the existing distribution pipework – much of it underground and thus impossible to assess – needs to be replaced sooner than anticipated.

“We have agreed these emergency works to prevent further disruption in the new academic year, to prevent expenditure on failed elements merely to “keep them going” and to prevent damage to other elements at the school arising as a result of ongoing and serious water leaks,” he said.