COUNCILLORS have demanded answers into what can be done to deal with a Bradford school's spiralling deficit.

Recent figures predict that Hanson School is likely to face a deficit of £4.1 million by September.

A report to Council bosses in November said the school, the Department for Education, the Regional Schools Commissioner and Bradford Council were all working to try and reduce the deficit.

In recent years the school has seen a number of proposed academy takeovers fall through.

Hanson came out of special measures last year after three years.

The deficit at Hanson, which currently has 1,500 students, jumped from £1.86 million in 2016/17 to £3m last summer, with another rise of more than £1 million looking likely this school year.

The school is currently working with the Gorse Academies Trust to try to improve its situation.

At a meeting of the the Council's Bradford East Area Committee on Thursday, Councillor Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) called for a report to come the committee explaining how the issue was being dealt with.

She said: "It is one of the largest secondary schools in the District.

"It has been in special measures for five out of the last seven years. It seems to be very difficult to see what is being done to resolve this issue. I want this committee to get a formal report into what is happening to help get Hanson out of the financial mess it is in. How do we get that school out of the hole it is in? It is far too big to fail. We need a public report about this."

The committee agreed, calling for a full report into efforts to fix the school's finances at a future meeting.