43% of BSF schools lack sprinklers

Almost half of new school buildings built through the BSF programme in England do not have fire safety sprinkler systems.

Government guidance issued two years ago said that sprinklers should be fitted in almost all new schools.

But a BBC investgiation found that 43% of schools re-built or refurbished under BSF do not have them.

Every week 20 schools are destroyed or damaged by fire. The cost of the damage was £65m last year.

A spokesman for the DCSF said 72 out of 127 schools built through BSF are fitted with sprinkler systems.

He added: "In cases where sprinklers are not installed, schools may be fitted with alternative Fire Engineered Solutions, or for example in very low risk schools or those with a large atrium, sprinklers may not be the most appropriate form of fire protection.”