Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Five north-east schools facing repairs due to wall defects

A 2G pitch was built at Portlethen Academy because it is an ideal surface for hockey
A 2G pitch was built at Portlethen Academy because it is an ideal surface for hockey

Structural defects, similar to those found in Edinburgh schools which resulted in 17 closures last year, have been discovered in five north-east schools.

Safety concerns were raised in the capital last April after the collapse of a large wall at the city’s Oxgangs Primary in January 2016.

As a result of the defects, nine tonnes of masonry fell down during a storm.

An investigation into the incident found that wall cavities were not uniform, there had not been enough wall ties used, and the wrong type had been employed.

A major Scotland-wide investigation by local authorities was then launched to determine if the problem affected school buildings across the country.

And in April, it emerged the defects were present in 72 more schools, in addition to the 17 in Edinburgh.

Many of the buildings were constructed in the 1990s to mid-2000s through public private partnership (PPP) or private finance initiative (PFI) schemes.

A new report which will be considered by Aberdeenshire councillors next week has now revealed there are similar defects at Portlethen and Meldrum academies, along with Hill of Banchory, Kintore and Longside primaries.

However, the contractor responsible, Robertson Group, has said there are no immediate safety concerns for the north-east schools affected.

A spokeswoman for the company said: “Following concerns elsewhere, we proactively carried out surveys on all our school buildings.

“During these surveys, some minor remedial works were recommended, however there is no emergency or legal requirement for these works.

“There is currently no immediate risk to structural safety or building integrity.

“The affected schools were notified and remedial works have either already occurred or are scheduled to take place.

“This will be at no cost, or cause any inconvenience, to the local authorities concerned.

“We have a responsibility to maintain these schools – across the lifetime of the contract – ensuring their continued safety for all school users.”

Remaining works are expected to continue throughout the summer holidays.

Ritchie Johnson, the director of business services at Aberdeenshire Council, prepared the authority’s report into the wall defects.

He said: “It is evident from the findings that there seems to be a systematic failure in the design and construction of some schools in the PFI/PPP era.

“It was not episodic and it is difficult to comprehend why it happened in a range of other schools across Scotland.”