ASBESTOS will be removed from the roof of the Corsham School as the building undergoes a major renovation over the next few months.

The work began on Tuesday and is expected to continue until the end of March, following the awarding of a £250,000 grant from the Government’s Academies Maintenance Fund.

The work will be made more complex by the presence of asbestos compounds, mainly in the skylight frames which predated the 1999 ban.

It needs to be removed before work can start on replacing the roof over the library and administrative offices and installing new skylights and insulation, a new fire alarm system and fire doors.

The school, meanwhile, has been rated outstanding by Ofsted, after it was inspected in December.

That marked an improvement on its previous good rating, achieved in 2009.