School phone cut off after council fails to pay the bill

Published on Thursday 13 September 2007 01:14

A SCHOOL had its telephone service cut off after cash-strapped City of Edinburgh Council, which is under pressure to tackle a £10 million black hole in finances, failed to pay the bill.

Gracemount High in the Liberton area of the capital was disconnected for four days until Tuesday due to what the authority described as a "misunderstanding". BT confirmed the school's service had been suspended due to non-payment of the bill.

A council spokeswoman said: "The phones at Gracemount High School were partly suspended due to a misunderstanding."

Iain Whyte, the Conservative leader, said: "This could have had serious consequences, particularly for parents surrounding problems with collecting and dropping off children. There are issues of public safety."

The SNP-Liberal Democrat coalition recently had to scrap plans to close 22 schools, which would have generated 16 million from selling buildings and land.