PUPILS at a Pontypool comprehensive face a four-day week - because of last-minute major structural work on their school.

Today - the first day of the new term - hundreds of pupils at West Mon Comprehensive School, on Blaendare Road, face disruption as their school is a construction site.

Last week engineers discovered weaknesses in the school's entrance and parapets along the roof, caused by plant roots growing behind them.

The entrance is now covered in scaffolding and much of the school is out of bounds as contractors repair the damage in an operation which could take up to 12 weeks.

Head teacher Peter Phillips - who was only informed of the work last Thurdsay - says he will take pupils out of school if he feels it is unsafe.

"I do not know whether we can operate as a school under such conditions," he said.

"I am going to undertake a risk assessment this morning to see if it's safe for 1,100 children to be on site with parts of it cordoned off. If not, it may not be possible to keep all the pupils in school."

Mr Phillips was deciding whether or not to send some or all of the pupils home after lunch. "As a last resort I will exclude one year group per week if the council cannot find anywhere else for them to be taught. This is a shocking thing to do. My main concern is for the safety of the pupils."

Mr Phillips criticised Torfaen council for not responding sooner.

"This deterioration has occurred over many years because of a lack of funding. I was under the impression that this would be looked at at the beginning of the summer break," he said.

A spokesman for Torfaen council said only the entrance area was affected. He added: "Everything is being done to ensure the least disruption for when the school opens. The area where the work is taking place has been cordoned off to make sure there's no danger."

But parent-governor and former architect Mark Giles said: "I think that was extremely remiss of the council and demonstrates that they are very short-sighted. I am appalled."

Chairman of governors Maurice Morgan said: "The last thing we want to do is turn pupils away."

l Parents arriving at West Mon this morning gave their reaction. Julie Sallis, 33, from New Inn, has three children attending the comprehensive. She said: "After all the time they have had off you would have thought they could have fixed the problem by now."

Lynne Hosking, 44, of New Inn, said: "If it's unsafe for them to be there, then the school should be closed."

Jackie Lawrence, 38, of Pontypool, said: "They should have sent a letter informing parents about the work."