A £150 million project to transform schools in Bournemouth and Poole has been axed.

The scrapping of the multi-million pound Building Schools for the Future programme means that five schools will not undergo major facelifts.

And re-building schemes at four other local schools are up for discussion.

Education secretary Michael Gove announced yesterday that the programme was being stopped in its tracks.

Applications from schools seeking to become academies – including Rossmore in Poole and Kings High in Bournemouth – will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

However, projects at 715 schools nationally which do not have a building contractor signed up and ready to start will be cancelled.

Oakmead, Kings High, Winton, Glenmoor, Winchelsea and Montacute schools were also in line for massive improvements.

Many schools have already spent significant amounts of money making the case for their schemes and hiring architects.

The scheme is one of the first casualties of the coalition government’s efforts to slash national spending.

Mr Gove told the Commons yesterday that the Building Schools for the Future project had been “characterised by massive overspends, tragic delays, botched construction projects and needless bureaucracy”.

He said expenditure had not guaranteed quality.

But shadow education secretary Ed Balls called the axing of the scheme “a tragedy” for pupils, teachers and parents who would have benefited from new facilities.

“Today is a black day for our country’s schools,” Mr Balls told the Commons.

The Building Schools for the Future team appointed by Bournemouth and Poole councils was last night considering the implications of the announcement.