School to be rebuilt after '10 years of hell'

Plans to demolish and rebuild a school fraught with structural issues after "10 years of hell" that saw students wading through sewage and forced out by explosive gas have been approved.

Russell Scott Primary School in Denton, Tameside has been plagued by problems caused by a remodelling project by now-collapsed construction giant Carillion a decade ago.

Tameside Council has signed off on plans to replace the crumbling site with a modern school complete with new sports facilities

Headteacher Steve Marsland said the approval was "huge" for the school's 470 pupils after a decade of "mayhem".

Marsland told BBC Radio Manchester Carillion had "messed up the building" with a failed refurbishment in 2013.

This led to problems including flooding, sewage leaks, "explosive levels of gas", and other issues which saw the school totally closed on seven occasions.

"It was dangerous, not fit for purpose, and not a good place to be," he said.

The council-run school, which is 150 years old, featured on BBC Panorama in 2024 when Marsland revealed teachers had been emptying out buckets of water from leaks caused by rain.

For a period, children were moved to disused secondary school while the botched refurb had taken place.

Riddled with defects, the site on Clare Street will now be replaced with a new two-storey building containing classrooms, a nursery, a designated SEND unit, assembly hall, kitchen and other spaces.

A new sports field and other facilities are also included in the plans.

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