FRUSTRATED students at West Craven Technology College in Barnoldswick have had their attempts to learn via the internet thwarted because of a delay in road works.

Staff and pupils at the high school, which has technology college status and a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment, have seen their link to the worldwide web grind to a halt in the last couple of months while waiting for an underground fibre optic cable to be installed to speed up the connection process.

But their problems may soon be over, with the work expected to begin on Monday.

A BT spokesman said the work involved laying a cable which was more than a kilometre long and therefore involved closing roads in the Regent Avenue area of Colne.

He said: "After a meeting with the police and highways people it was agreed that part of the road would have to be closed for safe access to do the work.

"The delay has arisen because BT had to give the council notice to close the road, which has been cut from six weeks to 28 days. The work will start on Monday with traffic lights in place. It will be completed by the end of next week. Everyone is working as quickly as possible but we have to go with the safety regulations from the police and highways for the safe working of the people involved and road users."

The delay had become so frustrating that staff and school governors contacted local councillor David Whipp to see if he could speed up the work. He said: "BT should have had the work completed in September but obviously the school is still waiting.

"BT have now told me that once the cable is in place subject to testing it will be a matter of days rather than weeks before the school will be on the faster connection."

The school was linked to the internet and the national grid for learning via a slower connection until June this year but this was disconnected in advance of the new connection being installed.

Coun Whipp said: "The school is screaming for this new, faster connection. They called me in because they weren't getting anywhere. There's been months of delay and it's just not acceptable. Confirmation that work will start next week is good news."

Headteacher Arnold Kuchartschuk said the delay had not just affected the pupils but also the wider community who use the school's technology for training. He said: "Not having the link means the resources in the school are unavailable. It is a like a ship which has ground to a halt.

"It does not affect the GCSE coursework as we still have the internal network but the new link will enhance pupils' learning. The exciting part of IT is that people have access to a virtual library.

"If Year Seven are learning about the Romans, instead of their parents having to go to the library to get a book to help them a class of 30 can look at the books on the Internet at the same time.

"We had a superb system before the holidays where small local firms, parents, the police and ambulance would come in and use the resources. The new fibre optic cable will allow the connection to be faster and better.

"In the past week we have had limited access to the internet which has been helpful but to no more than five machines which is difficult for a class of 30. We are desperate to get it back and continue with the community project."

There will be temporary lane restrictions controlled by traffic lights next week in Venables Avenue, Regent Avenue, Castle Road and Langroyd Road.