Academy costs may be £2m over budget

Up to £2 million extra could be spent on a £33m Lincolnshire school development, the Echo can reveal.

The Trent Valley Academy in Gainsborough opened its doors this term with places for 1,212 pupils.

The monolith of glass, wood and steel stands proud of fields off Corringham Road and has replaced Castle Hills Community Arts College and Middlefield School of Technology.

Alongside, is a 112-place special educational needs school for primary and secondary aged children.

It is now thought that the overall costs will run to an extra £2m according to figures published in Lincolnshire County Council's audit committee agenda.

Patricia Bradwell, executive councillor for children's services said: "There is a projected overspend of £2m for this project for which the budget was set four to five-years-ago."

The school has been designed and built to eco-friendly and technologically advanced codes including a groundforce heat pump which shoots down 100 metres underground and is complimented by a natural ventilation system.

Executive principal Tom Megahy said the rise in costs could be put down to the unstable nature of material and labour costs.