Three companies have been shortlisted to work on a £400 million contract to rebuild or revamp all of Bradford's secondary schools.

The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme will see major work carried out at all 28 sites across the district.

Seven major national companies or consortia of firms submitted bids to carry out the work after hundreds flocked to an information day held in the city.

Now the trio who will go through to the next stage have been announced by Bradford Council.

They are IntegratED Bradford, a consortium led by construction company Amey; Environments 4 Learning, a consortium of firms including Interserve, Barclays Private Equity and Mott MacDonald, which includes Cambridge Education Associates; and Mowlem plc.

Mowlem won the contract for the South Bradford Integrated Transport Project which involved building a new link road with the M606 motorway, improvements at Staygate junction, and £5 million of improvements to the busy Manchester Road and Mayo Avenue junction.

The three companies will now be asked to develop more detailed plans on how they would create new secondary schools as part of the national BSF programme.

This will include plans to rebuild Salt Grammar, Tong and Buttershaw secondary schools, for which £117 million funding has been secured from the Department for Education and Skills. The Council will also pay £1.7 million towards this stage of the programme.

Later this year, one of the three will be chosen as the preferred bidder.

Councillor Dale Smith, the Council's executive member for education, said: "We are delighted to be announcing these shortlisted companies and we look forward to seeing more details of their proposals for our work to create these new schools.

"We had a superb response from a range of companies interested in working with us which shows the potential they see in the Bradford district.

"The standard of the bids was very high and reflected our vision of providing the best and most exciting environments for pupils and staff that will also benefit our communities."

Phase two will see the regeneration of Beckfoot School in Bingley, Greenhead School in Keighley and Grange Technology College in Great Horton.

The Council has also agreed to fund plans to create three special primary schools alongside existing primary schools.

Proposals for the rest of the district's secondary schools are still being developed in consultation with head teachers and governing bodies.