Interserve, the international services, maintenance and building group, has been awarded three schools contracts worth an aggregate £42 million.

These are: a £23 million improvement programme for Farnley Park High School in Leeds; a further £11 million of schools extensions in the Nottinghamshire Construction Framework; and an £8 million contract to increase the capacity of four schools for Coventry City Council.

The Farnley Park contract will be carried out as part of the Leeds Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme as announced in 2007. Work has just commenced on site with overall completion programmed for July 2012. It will involve the construction of state-of-the-art facilities for staff, pupils and members of the wider community, allowing the school to achieve its target growth and meet the increased demand for pupil places.

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Other purpose-built facilities will enable pupils from the neighbouring West Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre (SILC) to access learning in a mainstream setting through the formation of an integrated High Care Partnership (HCP).

The Nottinghamshire school extensions, meanwhile, are to take place at Blidworth, Langold, Ryton and Beeston Fields. Work is continuing on from the programme carried out last year at Langar, Ranby, Clarborough and Radcliffe on Trent schools.

In 2006 Interserve was appointed as one of three contractors in the Nottinghamshire Construction Framework and has since won some £40 million of contracts for schemes in education, social services, highway maintenance depots, libraries and offices.

Adrian Ringrose, Interserve's Chief Executive, said: "It is very rewarding to be responsible for delivering projects such as these that will benefit not just the pupils themselves but also many members of the local community. In these challenging times it is significant that we continue to win contracts; we believe that our selection results from our extensive understanding of the operational requirements and budget constraints involved, and demonstrates our ability to carry out high-quality projects within these parameters."

(CD/GK)