PARENTS at a Bury school are being charged for their children's PE lessons because it has no sports hall.

Pupils from Derby High School have to travel to the town's Castle Leisure Centre for their compulsory PE lessons, and are asked to contribute 85p.

The school, in Radcliffe Road, does not have a sports hall, and headteacher Mrs Alyson Byrne says the school cannot afford to fund the lessons for all pupils at the centre.

And allocating part of the centre for schools means a potential loss of revenue, so Castle Leisure Centre charges the school, which passes on a small percentage of the cost to the pupils.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "The lessons are compulsory, so I don't understand why parents have to pay this money. It isn't our fault that the children cannot do their lessons at the school. While it isn't really a lot of money, it is the principle of the matter."

Derby High School, which has been awarded the Sportsmark, is one of only two secondary schools in Bury not to have a sports hall.

Mrs Byrne said: "We offer an extensive range of sporting opportunities at Derby High, hence our achievement of the Sportsmark. However, we do face difficulties because we do not have a sports hall. And once Bury CE School achieves its sports hall, we will be the only school without the facility in Bury.

"We will always be determined that our pupils will not be held back because of this, and therefore we have had to find ways around this situation.

"Students at Key Stage 4 make use of facilities at Castle Leisure. The school pays for the pupils who take PE as a GCSE at some considerable expense. However, we are not able to afford to pay for other pupils who want to use these facilities in order to extend the range of options for them in core PE."

Mrs Byrne disputed the claim that the rest of the pupils had to pay to use the centre, saying it is offered as an option and parents are asked to make a voluntary contribution towards the cost.

A spokesman for Bury Council said: "We suggest that the parents involved raise their concern with the school."