AROUND 600 children at a Wimborne school have been given an extended Christmas holiday because their mobile classrooms are surrounded by floodwater.

It is the second time in two years Allenbourn Middle School has been forced to tell pupils to stay at home because classrooms are inaccessible.

But with a new £5m school currently being built nearby with improved flood defences, staff are confident flooding misery will be a thing of the past.

The school playing field, currently being used as a playground while the new school is being built, is also under water.

Headteacher Gordon Macrae told the Daily Echo: "I could tell on Friday that we would not be able to open for the start of the new term and we alerted local radio stations.

"The playground is completely flooded while there is around five to 10cm of frozen water around the mobiles." Mr Macrae said the bad weather over the past three months had put pressure on builders working on the new school.

"They are finding it difficult to keep to their original finish date, but the transfer date is still at the end of February or beginning of March."

And he added: "The new building has been set up in such a way that that should be the last time we experience anything like this."

The school is set to re-open tomorrow (Jan 8).

In January 2000 pupils were given an extra week's holiday after they were unable to reach their classrooms and toilets became blocked.

Environment Agency staff battled to pump out water from the school's car park and play ground.