THE executive headteacher of a crumbling County Durham secondary school has talked of being hit by a “double whammy” after a bid for a share in Government repair funds was turned down for the second time.

The Shildon Campus of Greenfield Community College has been named as one of 14 County Durham schools denied access to the Government’s Priority School Building Programme.

What makes the rejection even harder to bear is that for the Shildon school - along with five other County Durham secondary schools which were also turned down this week - is that this is the second time in five years they have been refused new funds for badly-needed repairs.

The Shildon school missed out in 2010 – along with Belmont Community School in Durham City, Ferryhill Business and Enterprise College, St Leonard’s Catholic School in Durham City, Durham Sixth Form Centre and Tanfield School in Stanley – when the incoming Coalition Government cancelled the previous Labour Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

David Priestley , executive head of the Shildon Campus, admitted he was disappointed.

“It is a bit of a double whammy. The situation we are in is that the buildings are in desperate need of repair.”

He said the school would continue to do its best to provide the best possible education for its 400 pupils but conceded: “It is easier to do that in better buildings.”

Mr Priestley described the fabric of the Shildon Campus as “time-expired” with problems caused by flat roofs and rotting window frames.

He added: “We will continue to look for ways of funding the development work that we need. We will make the best of the external fabric while we give a quality experience to our young people.”

Only three out of the 17 submitted by Durham County Council were successful in being allocated Government cash.

The successful bids – announced by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg during a visit to the North-East earlier this week - came from Vane Road Primary in Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Barrington School in Bishop Auckland and Durham Community business College in Durham City.

The rest of the County Durham schools which were turned down were: Chester le Street CE Primary; South Stanley Juniors; East Stanley Primary; Crook Primary; Cestria Primary; Shield Row Primary; Sugar Hill Primary and St Patricks RCVA Primary, Consett.

A spokeswoman for Durham County Council said: “At this stage, there is no information about the extent of the work to be done as part of the programme or the amount of money that each school will be getting. The Department for Education has said that they will begin to visit sites in April 2015. The programme will run from 2015 -2021.

“Durham County Council will continue to work with the schools affected to see how the condition of the buildings can be improved,” she added.