St Christopher's High school’s £7 million sixth form building will not be finished in time for the new school year, it’s been revealed.

Over 100 students will begin their A-level studies in temporary classrooms, until the new year.

The beginning of construction at the Queens Road West school was delayed by planning hold-ups.

The sixth form was finally approved by council planners last October, six weeks after the withdrawal of a previous planning application following objections from residents.

The school has now secured permission for a two-storey demountable portable cabin on the playing fields. The building will be 27 metres long and made of blue cladding material.

The application was approved by Hyndburn’s planning committee, but the land must be restored to its original condition by May 2011 and extra rear car parking must be provided before the school year begins.

The plans state: "Delays in the planning process (ie withdrawn application) has meant the project is now running behind schedule and it will not be completed in time for September when the new sixth form students are due to commence their education on site.

"The proposal will not be conspicuous from Queens Road West as the approved permanent building takes its completed shape. The temporary building will take four weeks to construct, and is required for a maximum of 34 teaching weeks. It will take approximately six weeks to transfer the pupils to the completed sixth form building and demount the temporary classrooms."

But headteacher Alasdair Coates insisted that there have been no building delays.

He said: "Our new building will open in December on time, according to our schedule. We were always aware that this building would be completed in December and that, since our sixth form opens in September, we would be in temporary accommodation for the first term."

He added: "We are delighted that our contractors are honouring a very tight time schedule. They have been blessed with good weather and have cracked on. They have done a super job and are on track to complete the best sixth form building in Lancashire. This is great news for our new sixth formers, over a 100 of whom are due to start."