WHILE children have been enjoying a much-needed summer holiday, the finishing touches are being made to a transformational building project at their school.

For the fourth year running, the Oxford Mail has teamed up with Abingdon-based construction company Leadbitter to offer one primary school improvements worth £7,500. Schools from all over the county vied to be in with a chance of seeing the money spent on their schemes.

But after a hard-fought contest, plans for new music storage facilities for St Joseph Primary School, Headington, Oxford, caught the judges’ eye and won the prize.

Leadbitter quantity surveyor Lloyd Beechey has been leading the project. He said: “We are pretty much 75 per cent completed.

“There is just painting left to do, putting the floor tiles down, painting the floor and that’s pretty much it.

“All the people who have done the work have freely donated their time and materials.”

Local firms including Bampton carpenters Turner and Summersbee, AH Manser, AC Flooring and Brooks plasterers have been involved in turning around the project in the space of just a few weeks.

Mr Beechey estimated the scheme from start to finish would have taken about five weeks.