STUDENTS and staff at The Abbey School at Faversham could soon be saying good riddance to their appalling canteen. Following a long campaign by the school and the Faversham News newspaper, the county council has finally agreed to help fund a new building.

The school is now seeking planning permission to demolish the 1948 Horsa hut and build an extension to house a canteen and four new classrooms. If planning permission is granted, the main school block will be extended to the southern boundary of the school.

Two mobiles used for music will be demolished to make way for the three storey extension, which will house a canteen seating 350 people on the ground floor, two classrooms on the first floor and two more on the second floor.

This extra space will allow the old art block, which consists of three mobiles, and the old canteen to be demolished and the area landscaped and a visitors' car park built.

The Abbey School will provide £90,000 towards the total cost of the project. The county council will fund the rest.

Last year, in their report on the school, Ofsted inspectors condemned the canteen. The hut drips with condensation, has holes in the ceiling and an asbestos roof covered in moss. It is in danger of being closed on health grounds.

If Swale planners grant permission, building could start as soon as February with the extension finished in time for the new school year in September 2002.