TWELVE million pounds promised by the Government to re-build Christopher Whitehead High School could be in jeopardy if the council does not act soon.

Worcester's Labour MP Mike Foster said the Local Education Authority was 'messing about' with the plans to rebuild the school.

But Adrian Hardman, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet member for finance, said the issue was complex and there were no easy solutions.

Mr Foster said he was 'suspicious' about the £32m quoted by the council to redevelop Christopher Whitehead School on its original site and said other schools in Britain had been redeveloped for far less.

"I'm more and more convinced that the council does not want it put up on the existing site because they want to see Worcester expand further than the existing boundary, complete the ring road and have a new school catering for that," he said. "The consultants came back with £32m but I don't believe that that's the case at all - it's a figure to frighten people off. If the county council is messing about with this, it will put in jeopardy any help from the Government. In the end, the kids will suffer, and so will the Worcester taxpayer."

But Mr Hardman, a Conservative councillor, said what Mr Foster was saying was 'incredulous'.

"Our sole aim is to deliver a new school for Christopher Whitehead and it's a difficult, complex problem," he said.

"What effect would rebuilding a school on its current site have on the students who are receiving education there for four or five years?

"We are doing our level damnedest to find a solution and the money promised by the Government is manna from Heaven. But I'm niggled that Mike Foster is seeking to make a political point."

Former schools minister Stephen Twigg made a pledge to give £12m in March, without any conditions surrounding the school's location. Around 1,200 students attend the school, but the classrooms, built in the 1960s, desperately need to be replaced.