HEADTEACHERS have warned they could be forced to make teachers and other staff redundant because their schools are so strapped for cash.

More than four out of 10 of those polled by the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) said they would have to let people go in the next school year.

Bolton members of NAHT will be at the annual conference in Torquay this week to debate budgets and work loads.

The survey revealed that just 30 per cent of heads predict their budgets will be big enough to cover rising costs, chiefly staff salaries.

The NAHT is using the survey to repeat its demand for a massive cash boost for schools in next month's comprehensive spending review.

The poll "dispels several myths", including the one that school budgets were increasing, said NAHT general secretary David Hart.

He added: "Our survey strips away Government rhetoric about levels of investment in school budgets.

"It demonstrates a dire need for the comprehensive spending review to deliver the goods big time."

Nearly 1,400 headteachers from schools around England responded to the survey with secondary schools reporting the biggest problems.

Altogether, 628 schools said they would be forced to make people redundant. In total, 323 teachers and 313 support staff were expected to lose their jobs.

The Bolton Evening News revealed in January that headteachers in the town had more than £5 million left in their 1999-2000 budgets -- most saving cash to keep staff.