PUPILS at a crumbling junior school face classroom disruption for a third winter in a row because the 50-year-old heating system keeps breaking down.

Moredon Junior School has warned it will be forced to send its 236 pupils home again this winter if the old heating system is not replaced.

But there is no hope of the problem being solved this winter, and no guarantee that it will be solved by next winter. That would mean pupils having to endure four successive winters at risk of being sent home amid freezing classroom temperatures.

Swindon's beleaguered education department is being blamed for failing to tackle serious and urgent repairs.

Ian Cooke, chairman of governors at Moredon Junior, said: "We realise that the LEA (local education authority) is going through dramatic and traumatic changes but we have schools to run and without the best resources, we will struggle no matter how hard we try."

The heating system has consistently broken down in recent years and is acknowledged by the council's own surveyors to be at "serious risk of imminent failure". They have recorded it as one of the five most urgent cases of repair work needed at schools in the borough.

But the £240,000 needed to replace the system which is shared with the neighbouring 152-pupil Moredon Infant and used by Hreod Parkway pupils has not been allocated anywhere in the council's budget.

Other desperate repairs to the junior school's leaking roofs and windows and outdated electrical systems which bring the repair bill up to around £500,000 have also been left untouched for years.

The school was prepared to stay silent on the issue and fight it through the Civic Offices, but was incensed by an article in the Evening Advertiser on Tuesday.

The story told how Hreod Parkway was in line for funds to address some of its most serious health and safety issues, but was also being kept waiting by the council.

Ian Cooke, chairman of governors at Moredon Junior, said all three schools off Akers Way had been given no resources for building or maintenance in recent years while their futures were under review.

That review ended in March, but still no money has been forthcoming and the buildings have become increasingly dilapidated.

The situation is symptomatic of the education department's weaknesses highlighted in its dreadful Ofsted report in September.

Mr Cooke said: "Our school has its own Ofsted inspection next week and we have a wonderful team of dedicated staff trying to do their best for our pupils, but they must feel like forgotten heroes as far as funding is concerned."

Swindon's education director, Dr Mike Lusty, said the problem was complicated by a possible Private Finance Initiative bid for funding to replace Hreod Parkway.

But he also said the council's cabinet had agreed to look into the problems at Moredon Junior School as a matter of urgency for the 2002/03 budget year.

Asked whether this meant there was no guarantee of the problems being solved in time for next winter, he replied that this could be said for many projects.

Dr Lusty added: "There have been no failures of the heating system this year, and we would hope that that will continue."

Mr Cooke has sent a letter to parents, explaining the situation and warning them that the school will have to close if the heating system fails again.

The council was invited to add its comments to the letter, but failed to take up the offer or even respond to Mr Cooke's telephone calls.

Mr Cooke added: "We would only ever close as a last resort but it is impossible for children and staff to work in the extreme cold and we would have no choice but to send them home.

"It may only be for 24 hours, but the disruption caused to the children's education and the parents is massive.

"It is almost certain that it will continue to happen every winter until the council pays for these repairs to be done."