BURY'S high schools could be in line for a massive £40 million of new classrooms and improvements.

Council bosses are considering raising the necessary cash through the controversial Private Finance Initiative (PFI).

A new "state of the art" high school could be built in Radcliffe to replace Radcliffe High and Coney Green.

Two other high schools have been singled out, Tottington and Derby, where major building works might take place.

Governors are being consulted on the proposals, which could be submitted to the Government by Christmas.

Councillor Steve Perkins, executive member for lifelong learning, said councils could not borrow the vast sums necessary to bring schools up to 21st Century standards.

Under PFI, a private developer would put up the money to build a new school and run it for a fixed period, say 25 years, before handing it back to the council.

During this time the council will pay back the capital costs and provide annual sums to the company to maintain the school.

But the PFI has been criticised as privatisation of public services, one which ultimately costs the taxpayer more. Trade unions have also complained that staff taken on under PFI schemes suffer worse pay and conditions.

Coun Perkins said a new school could be built on either of the two Radcliffe sites, but a third location would be cheaper and not cause disruption while it was being built.

He was unsure whether the current school sites would have to be sold to part-finance the scheme.

But he stressed that no decisions had been made yet, and there were a lot of steps to go through if the PFI project was to succeed. New schools are unlikely to be built before 2006.

The council hopes that major improvements to schools will mean they can be used by the wider community, and attract investment from the public and private sector to help social and economic regeneration.

Coun Perkins denied that Bury was privatising its schools, saying that the council would still employ the teachers and run the educational side of things.

"People have raised concerns about PFIs elsewhere having problems," he said. "We would need to make sure any deal is properly structured, provides good value for money, and ensures that staff are not affected."

But he added: "We are in the business of providing education, and this provides an opportunity for ways to do that, keeping up to date with modern facilities.

"It's a big opportunity and we need to take advantage of it to keep up our standards of education."

Education bosses say they are looking at other proposals to bring in capital finance. This might come from the Primary Care Trust or even other council departments, who could share new school sites for health or leisure uses.

Mr Steve Morton, branch secretary of Bury Unison, said his trade union opposed plans for PFI developers to build and run schools.

"It's proved to be a very expensive way of borrowing money," he said. "You're mortgaging your future, it has to be paid back somewhere.

"My personal opinion is that state education should not be a profit-making business. But we are concerned about the creation of a two-tier workforce, with worse pay and conditions, which destroys morale."