COUNTY leaders are spending £400,000 on a new team to abolish the county's 40 middle schools, it has emerged.

COUNTY leaders are spending £400,000 on a new team to abolish the county's 40 middle schools, it has emerged.

Suffolk County Council decided in March to impose a two-tier education system as part of the school organisation review (SOR).

It came in the wake of previous multi-million pound cuts which included axing of day care for the elderly and making library staff redundant.

The cash-strapped authority is now offering more than £400,000 in salaries to set up a 14-strong SOR team, which includes a salary of up to £79,848 a year and a “generous relocation package” for the lead project officer.