'Commercial cleaners needed to sanitise schools' - 17/04/2009

Groups using some school premises in Scotland were recently informed they will need to cover the costs for hiring commercial cleaners.

Charities and afterschool groups in Edinburgh may have to pool their resources in order to keep premises sparkling, the Evening News reports.

A spokesman from the city council told the paper that outside of term time many schools in the area do not employ commercial cleaners.

This means that groups have to fund their own cleaning bills to adhere to health and safety rules.

"There is no cleaning contract in place and we need to make a small charge to cover these costs," said the council spokesman.

"The nature of the chemicals and some of the equipment used means that we must use a professional cleaning company for safety reasons."

According to the Hounslow Chronicle, pupils from a London school were recently given cleaning tasks as part of a new scheme.

For professional commercial cleaners call London cleaning agencies.