Parents in Richmond have “had enough” after a one-year project is yet to be finished more than two years later, leaving their children’s school resembling a building site.

Richmond Council commissioned the construction of new buildings for the Russell and Strathmore Schools in Petersham Road and the work began in July 2015.

It was estimated to be completed within a year but it was two years before the Russell school children were moved into the new building last September, followed by the Strathmore pupils in November.

The site has, described as a “shambles”, has “mounds of waste, muddy holes and half-demolished buildings” while the children are “reduced to sharing a small piece of tarmac” at one end of the site.

There is also a snagging list for the newly-completed building, which means some facilities still cannot be used.

There are no longer any contractors on the site.

Your Local Guardian: Parents have 'had enough'

In a statement, the Russell School Parent-Teacher Association said “the council has a lot to answer for”.

It read: “As parents we have lived with the uncertainty, trying to be understanding and hoping for the best. But we've had enough now.

“It's obvious that the management of this project has gone badly wrong. We want the council to put it right and stop hiding behind spreadsheets.

“We fully support our headteacher, Mrs Samantha Leir, who has done an outstanding job of leading the school in such challenging times of change and disruption.

“However, the Russell School children have had to put up with temporary fencing, spoil heaps, rubbish, an unrecognisable school orchard and a derelict playground for more than two full school years.

“Our wildlife garden, officially opened by Richmond resident Sir David Attenborough several years ago, is gone and there are no publicly shared and approved plans to replace it.

“We believe that our school grounds offer huge potential to be turned into an amazing space for playing and learning.

“We care about our school. We want to be actively involved in the decisions about our school's outside space and will continue to voice our concerns and to speak out on behalf of current and future generations of Russell children.”

A petition, which had 672 signatures at the time of writing, has been launched asking Richmond Council to explain the reasons for the project over run, confirm the completion dates, get rid of the snagging list as soon as possible and, in the interim, tidy up the outside space for the children.

Richmond Council’s cabinet member for children’s services and schools, councillor Susan Chappell, acknowledged how “deeply frustrating and disappointing” the situation must be for children, parents and staff and apologised for the delay.

She said: “As part of our primary school expansion programme, the council has contracted expert, qualified, builders to expand a large number of our schools and, nearly all have been delivered successfully, to a high standard, on time and with no real problems.

“Unfortunately, in this case the contractor has clearly not delivered to the high standards we require.

“This has eventually led to the problems we face today. We have been aware of this for some time, and discussed the issues at a public Cabinet Meeting (July 2017).

“There are ongoing discussions with the contractor regarding the delays that have been caused and we are pushing for immediate action and remedial works.

“In relation to the landscaping works the updated plans have been submitted to planners. We will be providing a public update on the next steps and the timescales for completion very soon, once we have received their feedback.”