AS the giant superstores line up for battle in St John's, it seems to me the first casualty is Christopher Whitehead High School.

Months of wrangling and uncertainty are bound to have had a detrimental effect on staff and pupils alike and more is yet to come.

It's tempting to think of this as a well-established, fairly modern school.

But I had a surprise when I recently paid a visit.

I was shocked at the rundown condition of parts of the newer building and would certainly never want to send a child of mine there.

Moreover, remembering the two separate structures were originally intended as separate schools for boys and girls it seems an unwieldy and disjointed arrangement to administer as a single entity.

My candid opinion is that it's sadly in need of refurbishment, if not total rebuilding, at considerable cost.

If we still had our pre-1974 Worcester City Council, I don't doubt that the needs of our young people would be regarded as paramount.

But, sadly, education is no longer the concern of our local authority.

That has passed to our country cousins, often representing distant parts of the county.

That authority will no doubt welcome with open arms an opportunity to rebuild the school on another site at negative expense as might our own city council had it not been emasculated in a senseless bureaucratic re-organisation.

JOHN HINTON,

Victoria Avenue,

Worcester.