A £1.6 MILLION extension scheme for Lowton Community High School has provoked mixed reactions.

Extra facilities and classrooms are urgently needed at the already over-subscribed school in Newton Road, Lowton, but some local residents say building works will cause inconvenience, noise and loss of privacy for those whose houses back on to school land.

Headteacher Sue Crosdale said they had to have the new building work, which will enhance facilities for subjects across the curriculum.

"We have been over-subscribed for years," she said. "We have got to have the new buildings. It will all be specialised teaching space.

"We will have three new labs and one will have disabled access. It is a very exciting project. We will have a new food technology room, new art room, new space for performing arts, an extension and refitment of the CDT block, an extension and refitment of the dining room and a new gym/movement studio. It is a huge development."

The school currently has around 1,060 pupils and according to Mrs Crosdale that figure is going to increase.

She said: "We will be getting another class per year group. We already have one extra class now and when we get another extra class we will not be able to cope without the extra room."

Extension plans include an emergency vehicle access road and a mini bus garage. Work will be begin after Christmas and Mrs Crosdale said it will take about a year to complete, although work will be done in stages.

However, Mrs Irene Wyatt of Greenacres Close, whose house backs on to the school, is dismayed by the forthcoming building works. Once the school dining room extension is completed it will stand approximately 19 metres from the rear of her house.

"I think its going to be horrendous for my husband Geoff and I," said Mrs Wyatt, aged 59, who has lived in her bungalow for 15 years. "The school is getting nearer to us. I don't know how we're going to cope. I feel my home will be overpowered by the school.

"Geoff is seriously ill with multiple sclerosis and the noise of the building works will probably trigger his nerves. Just the noise of fireworks recently sent his entire body shaking.

"It is not so much the new building that bothers me. I know the children need more space and I don't have anything to grind with the school but I am very concerned about the noise construction will make.

"Its very hard for us to go out because Geoff, who used to be a sales executive, is completely wheelchair bound, and often he is bed-bound. We'll be stuck indoors, able to hear the noise and I don't know how we'll cope with it."

Mrs Wyatt, who worked as a school administration officer for 25 years, said the bedrooms were at the back of her bungalow and she fears the extension will allow people to see into the rooms as conifers shielding her bungalow will be removed to make way for an emergency access road.

She added: "I never thought they would build the school so close to our home. If I had I would never have brought the house. We need peace and privacy. We have to live here because the bungalow has been specially adapted for us."

Mrs Crosdale said ultimately the residents would benefit from the building works.

"It will be noisy, we accept that, but there's nothing that we can do about it and I do sympathise with the residents," she added. "But ultimately they will benefit. The extension should mean that the school doesn't overlook as much. It should increase their privacy in the long run. Plus a great deal of the building work will not be taking place near Greenacres Close.

"It must be remembered there have only been two objections to the work."

A council spokesman said they appreciated residents' concerns and added that steps had been taken to address the privacy issue.

"The new road will be lower than the present one and as part of the landscaping scheme replacement trees will be planted along side the whole stretch of road whereas the existing conifers do not," he said.

"Ideally we would have preferred to retain the conifers but emergency access is essential. If the residents think it gets too noisy they can contact environmental health and they will come and assess it."