A SOUTH Essex secondary school closed after asbestos was discovered in the rubble of a demolished building is facing yet another delay before it can reopen.

The King Edmund School in Rochford was closed on November 14 after contractors brought in by the Department for Education (DfE) to lead the construction of a new 30-classroom building discovered “traces of asbestos” on the site.

Parents were informed at 10.30pm the night before that the school would be closed.

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And now, the DfE, which is solely responsible for clearing the asbestos, has told the school it will only be safe to reopen on January 23 – when it had previously promised a January 3 reopening.

Writing to parents, headteacher Jonathan Osborn said: “Late last Wednesday afternoon we were verbally informed that a decision had been taken to remove further material from the school site.

“The chair of governors and I requested that this be put in writing: we wanted formal confirmation of how things stood before writing to you. We were told that we would receive a letter to forward to you by the end of Friday. To date, we have not received a letter and it is not reasonable to wait any longer before telling you this news.

“I am sorry that the above sequence of events has meant that there has been a delay in informing you and trust you will understand that I wanted you to have the certainty of a formal letter telling you exactly what has happened.

He added: “We are bitterly disappointed and angry that, again, with so little notice, we are all faced with a longer absence from the school site. We continue to make clear to everyone we are working with our deep concern over the impact this is having on the education and wellbeing of KES students”

DfE claims the delay is based on the discovery that the contaminated soil is deeper than first believed, adding the icy conditions had slowed progress.

The school is looking at making use of other nearby school sites to provide face-to-face education for some KES students in the meanitime.