Builders under fire as workers are brought in from outside city

Construction firm Balfour Beatty, from London, began work in January on the new Sirius Academy, a 25m to 30m development being built under the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme on the site of the former Pickering High School in West Hull.

As well as a new secondary school, the site will also be home to a new special school and primary school to create what the city's BSF team describes as a "learning village".

Balfour Beatty admitted that only about 40 per cent of the 90 people now working on the scheme are from Hull, but said this would increase as the project developed.

But a resident living near the development said he was "incensed" the jobs had not been given to Hull-based workers.

Malcolm Fields, of Anlaby Park Road North, said: "Opposite where I live about two months ago there was a white wagon with Moortown on the side and I just happened to say to one of the blokes ' Where are you from'? and he said 'Bradford'.

"I have spoken to a lot of these workmen and they all say they come from Bradford.

"I was incensed. I walk across the park with plumbers, joiners and electricians and they are all out of work because there's no jobs locally. I'm furious that jobs are going out of the city.

"I spoke to one of the men in suits and said 'you've got two guys opening the gates to let the wagons in and two guys sweeping the road – they could be local jobs'."

He added: "We've got millions of pounds going up the M62 and it's not right. I know of many who have been made redundant in the past six months who would jump at the chance of local work, but they are not being given the chance."

Balfour Beatty said in a statement it would employ local workers where it could. "Balfour Beatty Construction will endeavour to employ local labour on the Sirius and Ganton Academy project in Hull.

"The company is committed to employing local subcontractors and suppliers where possible.

"When it is necessary to use companies out of the Hull area, we will request that they look at opportunities to use local labour, suppliers and services."

The head of Hull's BSF team said he was happy with the proportion of Hull workers being employed at this stage of the scheme Project director David Martin said: "To achieve 40 per cent on the early stages of the programme is very good.

"Due to the specialist nature of the work, such as piling, it requires involvement from national companies.

"However, over time as the scheme develops there will be an increasing dependency on a local workforce to achieve as many jobs for local people as possible. The BSF programme has always been committed to this approach and we remain confident we will achieve this outcome."

Balfour Beatty will also start work this month building a replacement school at Kelvin Hall. The other 21 construction projects being carried out under Hull's 460m BSF programme are being delivered by Esteem, a consortium featuring the Hull-based Sewell Group, Scotland-based Robertson Capital, and Morgan Sindall Investments, from London.

Work is already underway to build replacement schools for Winifred Holtby secondary and Archbishop Sentamu Academy, but Esteem could not say what proportion of the workforce involved was from Hull. The BSF team said the new facilities "will offer greater choice and maximise the learning opportunities for all children in Hull".