Parents are complaining that children and teachers at a Mt. Pleasant primary school had been exposed to asbestos fibre for two weeks before diggings at the school were stopped when a mother noticed the deadly substance in the soil.

Beth Matters, a mother of two, said a licensed removalist should have taken away the bonded fibro pieces from a site at the Pleasant Heights Public School before excavations were done there since the Department fo Education had already identified the site as possibly containing asbestos fibres. However, WorkCover only stopped the diggings when a couple of bonded fibro pieces were found on the ground.

The department confirmed the fibro pieces on Wednesday and the Richard Crookes Construction is taking charge of the removal of the asbestos and the testing of the site to identify contaminated areas.