SCORES of parents will this week receive letters asking them to pay towards a £30million scheme to improve Catholic school buildings.

Although much of the money will be provided by central government, Catholic schools have agreed to find 10 per cent, or about £1million a year. There are 222 primary and secondary schools in the Salford Diocese, of which a large proportion are in East Lancashire.

Parents of children attending Mount Carmel in Accrington, St Bede's and Our Lady and St John's in Blackburn as well as St Augustine's in Billington have already received letters.

Eight schools involved in the scheme in Burnley are sending out similar letters. These are St Hilda's, Coal Clough Lane; St Theodore's, Ormerod Road; Christ the King, Calderbrook Avenue; St Augustine's, Lowerhouse Lane; St John's Infants, Ivy Street and St John's Juniors, Thames Avenue; St Mary's, Holcombe Drive and St John the Baptist, St John's Road, Padiham. The payments of £20 a year per pupil or £30 for parents with more than one child at a school will raise the required £1million a year across the Salford diocese, which covers East Lancashire.

Some parents have already protested about the payments. But in his letter to parents the Bishop of Salford, the Rt Rev Terence Bain, said: "The overall success of our schools, which in many cases is excellent, is achieved despite the poor condition of many of our school buildings and sites. The governing body does not have money of its own for and relies heavily on the support and generosity of parents, carers and friends."

Kieran Heakin, headteacher of St John's RC Junior School, said the school was already planning rewiring, new toilets and a new corridor.

Governor Fr Michael Waters added: "We know this is a huge undertaking but the money the government is offering is a once in a lifetime opportunity to carry out an amount of work on a scale previously unimagined."

Head teacher at St Bede's, John Challinor, said letters were sent during the last week of term but he had yet to hear any reaction from parents. Some schools opted to depend on fundraising and budgets, while most asked parents directly for the contribution.