A teacher has been suspended by Bradford Council after being charged with setting fire to her school.

The 23-year-old woman is due to appear before Bradford Magistrates' Court tomorrow, charged with an arson attack at Atlas Primary School, Manningham last Wednesday.

The woman, who lives in Scholemoor, Bradford, is understood to have recently joined the school in Lincoln Close which caters for mainly Muslim children from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds. It suffered five small fires - each believed to have been started deliberately - in the space of a week.

At one stage children had to be taught in the school hall instead of using a temporary building which had been a main target for the fires.

The school was forced to close altogether on Friday, April 19, while security was stepped up.

Today Phil Green, Bradford Council's director of education, said: "We can confirm that a 23-year-old female teacher from Atlas Primary has been charged in connection with a fire in a classroom on April 24. She has been immediately suspended as a result.

"We would also like to reassure the parents of children at the school that we are maintaining the current high level of security on site, until the school and ourselves agree that this can be stepped down."

Two security guards have been employed at the school site on a 24-hour a day basis to protect the children.

Ian Murch of the National Union of Teachers' Bradford branch said the incidents had caused great concern among staff and parents.

Today a spokesman for Bradford North CID, said officers were not seeking anyone else in connection with the previous fires at the school.

This Is Bradford's schools section