DISABLED pupils in schools across Hampshire are to benefit from better facilities thanks to almost £2m of government cash.

The money is designed to make it easier for disabled youngsters to attend mainstream schools near their homes and have a normal education.

Nationally, £70m was doled out by the government for the scheme, which is the second phase of the £220m Schools Access Initiative, a project aiming to help schools fit in with new disability laws.

From this September, the Disability Discrimination Act will apply to schools for the first time - legislation designed to give disabled pupils the same opportunities as other children.

Schools allocated funds by the education authorities will be able to spend the cash on disabled lifts and ramps or acoustic loops for youngsters with hearing problems.

Hampshire received £1,614,379 from the government - more than education bosses had expected.

Hampshire County Council's special educational needs manager Robin Thomas said: "It is a good sum of money and we are very pleased. It is more than we expected. It was £168,000 six or seven years ago, so it has vastly increased.

"The money is to support youngsters with disabilities in mainstream schools. It is to try to ensure as many youngsters as possible can go to mainstream schools rather than special schools. We are trying to ensure there is a secondary and junior school in every area that can take disabled children.

"It will pay for things like lifts, an accessible toilet, ramps, handrails and acoustic work if you have children with hearing difficulties. We tend to do one or two really big projects and then lots of smaller projects."

Money from previous years has seen Winchester's Westgate School have ramps fitted and acoustic work. Fair Oak's Wyvern School had a contribution towards a disabled lift and Chandler's Ford's Hiltingbury Junior School had a special disabled toilet built.

Southampton received £276,175, which will is already earmarked to provide a stair climber at Bellemoor School and a lift at Chamberlayne Park School.

Ian Sandbrook, director of lifelong learning and leisure for Southampton, said: "Any money from the government for this sort of thing is welcome. We have got a fairly good idea of where the needs are. Most of this money will go to Bellemoor and Chamberlayne Park, but other smaller projects are currently being assessed."