HEADTEACHERS across the borough have expressed their 'disappointment' after being forced to abandon major redevelopment projects when Government cash was axed.

Labour earmarked billions of pounds to help regenerate 719 schools across the country through the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme including 13 in Hammersmith & Fulham.

They were Bridge Academy, Cambridge School, Fulham Cross, Henry Compton, Hurlingham & Chelsea, Jack Tizard, Lady Margaret, London Oratory, Phoenix High, Queensmill, Sacred Heart, William Morris Academy and Woodlane High.

But the new Education Secretary Michael Gove announced in the House of Commons on Monday that the project would be scrapped to help save money.

He said: "In the light of the public finances, it would have been irresponsible to carry on regardless with an inflexible, and needlessly complex programme."

The decision has been met with disappointment by headteachers who had planned to use the cash to rebuild and update their facilities.

Peter Harwood, headteacher at Woodlane High School, in Du Cane Road, Hammersmith, said: "We are very disappointed. We were planning to improve several of our buildings because we have grown as a school in recent years and need to keep up.

"We also wanted to improve our sports facilities and we hoped to have space for social workers and medical workers also.

"We were quite far along the application process and were reasonably confident that, by the time this decision was made, we would have got our money. But sadly that has not been the case."

Sir William Atkinson, heateacher at Phoenix High School, in The Curve, Shepherd's Bush, said: "We are bitterly disappointed. We have spent a lot of time working with parents and teachers to try and create an education fit for the 21 st Century.

"We know that schools are so much more than buildings and are built on teachers and staff but the buildings can make a huge difference.

"All the schools in the borough have worked hard on this project and to see it wiped out at the stroke of a pen is really disappointing."