School fee legal bill blasted

CITY council bosses have been accused of "squandering" public funds over their refusal to pay to send a blind teenager to a specialist school.

The authority launched a legal battle to stop it having to pay to send Ciara McGearey to the Royal Blind school, at a cost of more than 11,000.

The case was later dropped after the army and the city council came to an agreement to each pay half of the school fees.

Colinton and Fairmilehead councillor Jason Rust, who had been helping Ciara and her family, said: "This unnecessary squandering of public funds has cost Edinburgh residents over 11,000 at a time when we are being asked to tighten our belts and protect front line services. Had the army not helped the council to see sense, thousands more would have been wasted.

"We could have been looking at a total bill in the region of 25,000."