Parents' fears over asbestos

9:30am Monday 13th November 2006

Angry parents have removed children from a school amid fears their health is at risk from asbestos or other contaminants at a waste transfer site.

Up to a dozen worried parents have taken their children out of classes at Downs Infant School in Ditchling Road, Brighton.

The school is next to the site of a new £10 million waste transfer station where derelict buildings are being stripped of asbestos and demolished.

Several parents are now refusing to let their children return until the work has been completed and claim they were not warned about it in advance.

They told headmistress Regine Kruger they fear for their children's safety after seeing contractors in white protective suits on the site.

They said they had seen clouds of dust coming from the site and were concerned that it could contain asbestos or other contaminants.

Nick Savvides and partner Sarah were among parents who protested and withdrew children from classes at the school on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mr Savvides said: "We have taken our five-year-old daughter Ciara out of school and we are going to keep her out until work is completed in about five weeks' time.

"One of the other parents said she had seen dust coming from the site and men in protective white suits working there.

"She said there was a strong smell of chemicals and one of the other mothers who is pregnant said she could smell it as well."

Mr Savvides also called for a meeting with executives of Veolia Environmental Services which won planning permission to build the waste transfer station in June.

Kirsty Archer, another parent, said: "Men in full body suits were removing what appeared to be asbestos from the site.

"But the school had no idea what was happening. They had not been told about it or warned to keep the children inside or the windows shut.

It is frightening. I feel I can't send my children back to school until I am certain they are safe."

Miss Kruger confirmed that children had been taken out of school as a result of the scare.

She said: "Up to a dozen children were removed from the school by their parents on Wednesday and Thursday. A number have still not returned and these are being treated as unauthorised absences.

"There has been a lot of misinformation about dust from the site and the possibility it could contain asbestos.

"Some parents have said they have seen dust coming from the site but I have not seen any.

"I tried to find out more about what was going on by contacting Veolia but we were given conflicting information by them. At first they said the asbestos was removed from the site on Wednesday and then that most of it had gone and the rest was being removed on Thursday."

Becky Walton, spokeswoman for Veolia, said: "All the material that required removal under sealed conditions was removed under sealed conditions.

"Most of this work took place during half-term and any material not requiring removal in this way was removed in the last week.

"Veolia issued a bulletin to local residents and the school on September 25 saying the removal would take place in October and November.

"We are now preparing further information to update the residents about any future work.

"Dust from the site was as a result of demolition and notas a result of asbestos removal."

Mr Savvides, who is also spokesman for the Dump the Dump campaign against the transfer station, added: "They sent out a news bulletin in September saying work might start in October or November.

"But we had no warning about when it was actually going to start and we can't get any answers from them."