A LOCAL school has installed a revolutionary new acoustic system, made from thousands of recycled plastic bottles, to reduce noise levels in its dining room.

Fulneck School in Pudsey is the first in the country to use ‘Tile Acoustics’ which reduce the length of time that noise takes to decay within the room.

The sustainable panels have been designed and manufactured by Bradford based company Agile Acoustics.

In total 96 panels were installed at Fulneck, which equates to over 3,450, 50cl plastic bottles.

The school plans to explain the science behind the panels to pupils in science lessons.

In tests carried out by acoustics specialists MZA Acoustics, the reverberation time measurements were found to be 1.9 seconds before the ‘Tile Acoustics’ were installed and just 0.8 seconds following installation, a reduction of over 50 per cent.

The design standard for schools recommends a maximum reverberation time of 1.0 second for new-build dining rooms and a maximum of 1.5 seconds for a refurbishment project, which the new installation comfortably achieves.

Fulneck School Bursar Julie Davis said: "The installation of these new environmentally friendly acoustic panels will make the dining room a far more comfortable and coherent place at meal times. They also look great and have been personalised by using the school’s colours.

"The science behind the panels and their positive affect on noise reverberation is fascinating and it is something that our pupils will be learning more about over the coming weeks."