CRUMBLING schools across the North-East and North Yorkshire need repairs costing £485.5m over the next five years.

And pupils are still being taught in 335 temporary buildings that are awaiting replacement, according to Department for Education (DfES) statistics.

Ministers insisted annual spending on school repairs had risen from £700m when Labour came to power in 1997 to £4.9bn this year.

And five North-East authorities were included in the flagship Building Schools for the Future programme, which would provide the latest facilities and end the "patch and mend" approach.

The DfES figures reveal that Durham, at £106.2m, has the biggest bill for urgent maintenance and repairs needed to bring school buildings up to a serviceable state.

However, Durham is at the back of the queue for cash for improvements.

Priority is being given to schools serving disadvantaged areas or with poor academic records.

The decision means that many of the county's schools, including those in Easington and Sedgefield, will be replaced in the third phase of the building programme, which is likely to take place in about 2009.

Earlier this month, officials highlighted the plight of Durham Johnston School.

Although everyone agrees the school's crumbling buildings need replacing, its successful academic record means they will not be rebuilt for more than a decade.

Councillor Neil Foster, Durham County Council's cabinet member for education, said: "The condition of the buildings means we cannot wait until the school qualifies."

County Durham is followed by North Yorkshire (£100.5m), Stockton (£42.6m), York (£41.6m), Middlesbrough (£40.9m), Sunderland (£38.6m) and South Tyneside (£35.6m).

Meanwhile, Gateshead, with 72, tops the table for temporary buildings, ahead of Durham (65), Stockton (63) and York (57).

Darlington, North Yorkshire and South Tyneside have none.

Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrats' education spokes-man, said: "It should be the Government's priority to ensure that school buildings are modern, clean and fit for a 21st Century education.

"When Charles Clarke was Education Secretary, he promised every school would be rebuilt or refurbished by 2015. These figures show how far the Government is from achieving that."

A DfES spokeswoman said: "Progress is being made year by year on increasing the quality of the school building stock, but we faced a huge backlog of repairs because of years of underfunding."

The Building Schools for the Future programme, spending £6bn between this year and 2008, would replace or refurbish every secondary school in the country by 2015.

Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland will be among the first 19 authorities to receive the funding from April. Middlesbrough will sign contracts next year and Durham in 2007.

The authorities are chosen on the basis of the condition of their buildings and on the level of deprivation and educational underachievement.

Across England, local education authorities face a bill of nearly £8bn for school repairs by 2010.