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Bungling Liverpool council workmen painted road markings warning not to block the entrance to a school – after failing to notice it had been knocked down more than a year ago.

The highways staff put down the yellow markings outside the site of the former Gateacre school, which was shut to pupils two years ago before being knocked down.

The council admitted its staff had made a mistake and said it was now checking that the gaffe had not been repeated outside other sites where schools had been knocked down as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

But local residents and councillors said they were amazed the workmen had not applied some common sense when doing their job, which involved repainting tired old markings outside the school gates.

Even council insiders admitted “you would have thought they’d have noticed there wasn’t a school there any more.”

Liberal Democrat Woolton Cllr Malcolm Kelly said he couldn’t believe it when he saw the fresh coat of paint had been put down.

He added: “We’ve been complaining about speeding cars on here and the need for the road surfaces to be fixed for some time. The council keeps saying it has to prioritise things and then goes and spends money on doing this.”

The mistake echoed one made by highways staff in Tuebrook in 2009, when they painted their own instructions – an arrow showing which way up a one way street traffic would flow – in the middle of the road.

A council source told the ECHO the school gaffe was a “hands up” situation, adding: “They just followed their instructions without thinking about it.”

It is understood the error cost around £100, and staff are due to return to Grange Lane to take the paint off – which Cllr Kelly said would mean spending even more money.

A council spokesman said: “We are also trying to make sure that it did not happen outside other schools that were re-located.”

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