A school has found itself unable to afford to fix its heating system.

Frith Manor Primary School, in Finchley, notified parents they were facing an £18,000 bill to fix two boilers which had broken down in their school.

The letter also explained there were further works to be done underground at the school, due to leaking pipes, which would mean a permanent fix to their problems would more likely cost between £100,000 and £150,000.

However, due to funding and budget changes for the school, the school governors explained they had no reserves with which to pay, and instead the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) footed the bill for temporary oil radiators to keep children in school.

Tania Tchedaeva, chairman of the finance and premises committee, said: "As our recent results show, our school is going from strength to strength so it is incredibly frustrating when our focus is pulled away from continually improving our performance to these infrastructure issues.

"Being able to fix basic amenities should not be something we have to think twice about but the sad reality is that we are forced to use short-term fixes because of budget restraints. It is particularly frustrating that these fixes will end up being more expensive in the long run.

"We are incredibly lucky to have a supportive community around us but it is a shame that we are having to talk about keeping our school warm rather than teaching and learning."

In the letter sent to parents, chairman of governors Wendy Kravetz detailed temporary options, such as a fix of the boilers, which would cost £2,000 to do initially then £1,000 a week to maintain.

She also said the school governors were liaising with Barnet Council to find a solution.

Cllr Reuben Thompstone, chairman of the children, education, libraries and safeguarding committee, said: "The school has recently made the council aware of this issue with their heating system.

"We are working with the school this week to assess the extent of the problem, to determine what the best solution might be and how the council can support the school in getting this resolved as quickly as possible."

A spokesman from the Department of Education said Barnet will receive an extra 1.2 per cent of funding in the new funding formula, which will be more than £2.9million.

The spokesman said: "We are investing an additional £1.3billion in schools funding, over and above existing plans, with core schools funding rising from almost £41billion in 2017-18 to £43.5billion in 2019-20.

"Our new national funding formula will mean that school funding will be distributed according to a formula based on the individual needs and characteristics of every school in the country."

The spokesman added the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies confirmed overall schools funding is being protected at a national level in real terms per pupil over the next two years.