A £70,000 grant will ensure no five to seven-year-old children are be taught in classes of 30 or more after 2001.

Blackburn with Darwen Council schools bosses bid for the cash after discovering that five schools in the borough were unlikely to meet government targets under present funding.

They were Daisyfield CP School, Wensley Fold CE Primary School, St Luke and St Philip's CE Primary School, Brookhouse CP School and Edgworth CE/Methodist School.

The money will pay for more teachers and further cash handouts will be available to councils in September and January.

The council's school standards committee will discuss the award on Thursday.

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