AT LEAST half of Lancashi- re's 500 primary schools are set to be rebuilt, refurbishi- shed or remodelled in a £450million makeover, coun- ty education chiefs have revealed.

Primary schools in Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, Burnley, Pendle, and Ribble Valley are in line for the makeover over 15 years as part of a national scheme to build or renovate schools.

The government announced cash would be made available nationally earlier this year in a scheme which also sees Blackburn with Darwen Council handed up to £5million a year to revamp half the borough's primary schools from 2009.

Until now Lancashire County Council had not given details of its refurbishment plans under the scheme, which sees money alloca-ted on a complex deprivation formula.

But now the local authority's cabinet member for schools, Coun Alan Whittaker said the council should get £30million a year for the next 15 years to "meet the needs of children, families and communities across Lancashire."

Under the overhaul the council will replace a yet-to-be determined number of buildings that had "reached the end of the sell-by-date" and ensure all its primary schools are fit for the 21st century and "at the heart of local communities."

Education chiefs made the announcement ahead of planned consultation with interested parties including diocese officials and a series of seminars outlining their intentions to headteachers and governors will be held across the county in January and February.

Building experts will be sent to assess every primary school in the country to establish the work needed and building work could begin from 2009. Schools in the poorest state of affairs will be given priority and some of the newly built or new-look schools could be ready by 2010.

Coun Whittaker added: "Althoug-h some fantastic work is going on inside, a lot of the primary schoo-ls we have were built in the 20th and some 19th century. In addition we have a large number of schools from the 50s, 60s and 70s that are also getting tired and beyond their expected lifespan."

The announcement comes on the heels of the £250million investme-nt in Burnley and Pendle to replace the existing 11 high schools in Burnley and Nelson with eight state-of-the art new ones by 2010, under the government's Building Schools For The Future (BSF) scheme.