A TOP-performing comprehensive school’s finances have been made "difficult to manage" by its flagship £23.8m rebuild, its headteacher has claimed.

Durham Johnston School, in Durham City, was reopened in 2009 - the first in County Durham to benefit from the last Government’s £500m Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

Some were unhappy the school was rebuilt ahead of others in deprived areas and the coalition Government has since slashed BSF, meaning some rebuilds were scrapped.

But Durham Johnston is now facing job losses and library cutbacks and headteacher Carolyn Roberts said: "Commitments left over from the building programme have made our finances difficult to manage."

Up to seven staff could lose their jobs, The Northern Echo understands.

Mrs Roberts said: "I cannot make any comment about any specific posts but in a time of austerity, governors are trying to think hard about how we deploy our resources. There will be some staffing impact."

The school, which employs 100 teaching staff and 60 other workers, has begun consultation on the proposed job losses.

Mrs Roberts said: "It is with great sadness that the governors are embarking upon making these cuts.

"In a time of tightness in funding, it’s entirely to do with our financial situation."

Roberta Blackman-Woods, Labour MP for Durham City and an associate school governor at the school, said: "Labour’s shadow education team have been working hard to show that the Government’s professed commitment to education funding is certainly not all that it could be.

"I have asked questions to ministers to find out how much money they expect the Pupil Premium to bring to schools in Durham but so far I have yet to get an answer."

In October, it was revealed a sophisticated computer system installed by a private firm as part of the school’s rebuild had been scrapped after just 18 months.

At the time, Nigel Martin, a Liberal Democrat county councillor and school governor, said the private contractor had failed at every step.

The school’s rebuild has also been dogged by a long-running row over which children should get priority for places.