PHASE one of a multi-thousand pound refurbishment of the John Masefield High School is now complete, and phase two, to take place over the summer holidays, will see a further £100,000 spent on improvements.

This is down to a second successful bid by the Ledbury school for Government money

The school received the first lot of grant funding from the Education Funding Agency, to the tune of £706,873.

This was to pay for work which has just been completed.

Work carried out at the main block, which dates back to the 1960s, has included replacing fire doors, installing new windows and making improvements to the outside fabric of the building.

The work is also intended to boost the ageing school's energy efficiency.

The school's business manager, Wendy Bradbeer said: "We are delighted that the refurbishment of the main block is now complete and we are very pleased with the work.

"The new exterior cladding and windows will ensure that the block is water tight and more energy efficient than before and inside offers a much more comfortable learning environment for our students with new doors and complete re- decoration. We'd like to thank the contractors, Owen Pell Ltd, and all the students and staff who coped admirably whist the work was being carried out."

A second successful bid from the school to the EFA means that safety improvements can now be carried out on three other blocks.

Mrs Bradbeer said: "We were also successful in a second bid to the Education Funding Agency to carry out phase two of our work on upgrading the facilities at JMHS and we will be spending over £100,000 in the summer holidays on replacing all the fire doors in three blocks and upgrading our fire detection systems."

The popular school is currently over subscribed for September.

But Mrs Bradbeer said: "We very pleased that so many students are choosing JMHS for their education.

"If anyone would like a tour of the school please contact admin@jmhs.hereford.sch.uk or telephone 01531 631012."