Nearly 140 school staff are set to be axed as the full scale of Medway’s education cuts emerged this week.

An expert branded the sum "staggering" as the data, seen by the Medway Messenger, revealed two primaries have made 31 staff redundant.

Teaching assistants at Burnt Oak Primary, Gillingham, have even taken on school dinner ladies’ duties after 16 staff were axed.

Interim head teacher Zerina Slade said: "Unfortunately, there have been some redundancies among our meal supervisors, and this role will be taken up by teaching assistants who know the children really well and can offer consistency through the lunch hour."

Mrs Slade, who took over after previous head Gill Perry left mid-way through the school year, is also head of Gillingham’s Napier Primary School, which is losing five teachers and 10 support staff.

Both schools turned away applicants for next term.

Education expert Peter Read said: "It is staggering. Pupil numbers have fallen in some places, but how on earth an oversubscribed primary school can lose 16 staff I don’t know.

"If they are unnecessary then what have they been doing for all these years?"

Most of the redundancies have already been made, with five axed staff redeployed into other roles.

The blitz on jobs, almost all of which are part-time, began in January and is still being finalised.

Schools make their own staff changes after the government and the council set budgets.

A former teacher at one badly-hit school said: "This will be like a car crash in slow motion. Support staff relate to children like no one else."

The figures exclude academies, said Mr Read, adding: "A number of schools have gone to academy status precisely to avoid the worst consequences of the cuts.

See today's Medway Messenger for a full breakdown of where the cuts fall.