THE failure to remove asbestos from school buildings across Britain is a deadly legacy on staff and pupils, teaching unions warned today on Action Mesothelioma Day.

More than 80 per cent of schools in England have the potentially cancer-causing material present, according to latest figures by the Department for Education (DfE).

Research by the Joint Unions Asbestos Committee found that 1,000 school staff in Britain have already died from mesothelioma between 1980-2017.