MILTON Keynes Council is bulldozing its own build and design business with the loss of 28 jobs.

Demolition of beleaguered AMK was ordered by the council cabinet on Tuesday after failed attempts to put together a rescue package with council private sector partner Mouchel and forecast losses rising to more than £900,000 by March next year.

A leading independent architect in the city said he was pleased to see it go as councillors decided that minor building and maintenance works were all that should be salvaged from the operation.

AMK has been under mounting pressure since last December when an internal audit of the failed school build programme recommended its future be reviewed.

It was further undermined by a council decision earlier this year to move to open tendering for school projects, and its fate sealed when Mouchel backed away from a possible take-over.

The redundancies over the next six months will cost the council an estimated half-a-million pounds.

Cabinet member Councillor Sam Crooks said: "It is a very sad ending.We must not forget that AMK has built a number of award-winning schools.

"The outcome is not a criticism of their architectural work. This is a strategic decision."