£6.3m to help protect schools from new deluge

Eight primary schools considered to be at risk in Hull are to have floodproofing measures installed after Hull Council was awarded a one-off 6.3m from the Government.

Engineers have been working on solutions for each school, including erecting waterproof walls, no higher than 4ft, partly or all the way round the buildings, depending on the topography of the land.

Flood gates – rather like half stable doors with rubber seals – will be installed at each external door – in one of the schools there are 17 – with non-return valves fitted in the drains to prevent water coming up through the toilets, as happened in 2007.

Capital development manager Peter Garner said they considered protecting the grounds of the schools but had not pursued that option because the fields act as a soakaways and defending them could have caused problems for neighbours.

He said: "The damage in some of the schools was so severe we had to temporarily close the schools and put children into temporary accommodation.

"One of the main thrusts is to make sure that if something like this happens again buildings won't be so severely damaged and as soon as the flood waters subside schools would be immediately reusable as schools."

He added: "Nobody should be thinking it is going to be easy; it's going to be a challenge to do but obviously we are going to try and do our best." The plans still need to be approved.

The schools set to be protected include Bude Primary, Rokeby Primary, Westcott Primary, Thorpepark Primary, St James Primary, Stockwell Primary, Sutton Park and Wansbeck Primary.

Secondary schools are having measures installed under the Building Schools for the Future programme.

The torrential downpours three years ago wrecked more than 8,000 homes and 1,000 businesses and caused 200m damage to council properties alone, including schools.