Sewage has leaked into Renfrewshire schools 15 times since 2019, new figures reveal.

The data, released following Freedom of Information requests to all local authorities by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, shows that nine schools in the area reported sewage spills over this period.

Sewage was reportedly found coming into the games hall area of Trinity High, in Renfrew, from the showers and toilets in May 2019, while St Anthony's Primary, in Johnstone, had two sewage spills later that year.

St Anne's Primary, in Erskine, reported two incidents of sewage spills in July 2021 after workmen found a pipe had burst in the school's basement.

In August that year, the male staff toilets on the first floor of Trinity High were found to be overflowing when flushed. Sewage was also coming up from the urinals and flowing into the pupils' social area outside.

In 2022, there were three sewage spills recorded in the kitchen area at Inchinnan Primary, as well as separate incidents in the learning support area and memorial garden at Johnstone High.

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During that year, sewage spills were also recorded at Renfrew High, Houston Primary and Auchenlodment Primary, in Johnstone.

A sewage pipe at Glendee Pre-Five Nursery, in Renfrew, was reported to be leaking and leaving "puddles of urine" inside the playroom's kitchen in March this year.

A total of 88 sewage spills have been recorded across 11 local authorities in Scotland since 2019, with Renfrewshire reporting the second-highest number of leaks in the country.

South Lanarkshire had 26 sewage spills, with 14 in Stirling and 11 in the Highlands.

Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, described the new figures as "worrying news" for parents and pupils.

He said: "I hope that local authorities will be able to offer assurances that these issues have been addressed and will not happen again.

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"The Scottish Government have starved local authorities of the money needed to overhaul ageing schools for years.

"They must urgently work to ensure local authorities are properly funded, upgrade Scotland’s Victorian sewage systems and prevent incidents like these."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The maintenance of school infrastructure is the responsibility of individual local authorities.

"Since 2007, the number of schools in good or satisfactory condition has increased from 61% to 90.4% - seeing a 77% reduction in pupils educated in substandard conditions.

"The upcoming £2billion investment in the school estate through our Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) is intended to build on that progress."

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson added: "Any instances are repaired as quickly as possible to prevent wider damage and disruption to the school."