EDUCATION chiefs today insisted that the county's schools were in good shape despite an estimated quarter of a billion pound repair and maintenance bill.

Ministers have confirmed that Lancashire County Council estimated it would cost £244million in government money to maintain and upgrade facilities over a five-year period from 2003.

And Blackburn with Darwen Council estimated it would need £26million of the government handouts for the same purpose following similar assessments on the state of its school buildings.

The cash is designed to help councils catch up on a backlog of repairs and keep up with basic maintenance and supplement schools' own budgets.

But Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for schools, Coun Alan Whittaker, said that, in reality, the figure would be "much lower."

He said the 2003 estimate was based on predictions of all possible repair and maintenance work that could be done "in an ideal world."

The bill, he said, would be reduced when taking away the £25million schools are already given to carry out their own repair work and the £200million the council had spent since 2000 on projects, including replacing half of its temporary classrooms with permanent buildings.

And the estimate does not take into account the £170million investment poured into the Building Schools for the Future project in Burnley and Pendle, starting next year.

Under the revamp, eight high schools in Burnley and two in Nelson are set to be replaced with four new community highs, a community college for 16 to 19-year-olds in Burnley, and two new high schools planned to be built in Nelson by 2010.

Coun Whittaker said: "The condition of our schools is better now than ever and I invite anybody doubting these facts to go and visit some of our wonderful schools and see the huge steps we have made in investment."

Some of the cash has helped fund a technology centre at Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School, Oswaldtwistle.

It opened in March 2003 after £1.3million was spent on a number of buildings.

Coun Dave Hollings, Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive member for education, branded the government's £26million repair and maintenance estimate for the borough's schools as "welcome investment."

He said £6million of the cash had created five new children's centres in the area.

A further £3million helped provide sports and arts buildings at Audley Infants and Junior schools, Wensley Fold Primary School and St. Michael with St. John Primary in Blackburn town centre.