School kitchens and dining rooms are to be refurbished to encourage more children to have free meals.

The Government has given Leicester City Council £3.3m for the project which officials hope will mean hundreds of pupils will benefit from better surroundings at lunchtime.

Latest figures from the Department for Children, Schools and Families suggest about 1,300 children out of 9,743 who are eligible for free school meals in the city do not take advantage of their entitlement.

However, the funding is half the amount the council originally wanted so several schools which were on the first list could miss out.

The initial plan to improve the kitchens and dining rooms in 12 schools, including 10 primaries, has been scaled back to seven schools.

The schools which will benefit from the refurbished facilities have been worked out by considering the state of the existing kitchens, whether they are in deprived areas of the city and the potential number of extra children taking up their entitlement to free school meals.

Adam Squires, headteacher of Woodstock Primary, in Stocking Farm, said the £1m refurbishment work at his school would bring the dining facilities up to date.

He said: "Our buildings are over 50 years old and this will take them into the 21st Century.

"The windows are old and need to be replaced and the high ceilings need lowering to reduce the noise.

"About 40% of our children are on free school meals but we know there are children who are entitled but don't have them."

The city council estimates the potential increase in uptake of free school meals at his school to be 611.

The other schools to benefit from the refurbishment money are Northfields House Primary School, in Northfields, Merrydale infant and junior schools, off Uppingham Road, which could see the total uptake of free school meals rise by 700 children.

Added to the list are Marriott Primary School, in Saffron Lane, Rushey Mead Secondary School and Crown Hills Community College, where work forms part of larger school rebuilding programmes.

Overdale infant and junior schools, in Knighton, and Alderman Richard Hallam Primary School, in Beaumont Leys, could also benefit depending on the exact costs of the work needed.

It is estimated that the projects will increase the uptake of school meals over all by 2,227.

At a meeting to scrutinise education issues at the city council, opposition councillors questioned why some of the money was being given to schools that were already being rebuilt.

Councillor Vi Dempster, the city council cabinet's education spokeswoman, said the money gave the local authority the opportunity to provide better facilities for pupils.

She said: "We've only got a certain amount of money and we believe that we would be adding value to these fantastic new schools."

The government only allocated half of Leicester's original bid because of so much demand across the country for the money.