AN Ilkley mum is furious at the lack of security at her daughter's school when she began the new term.

Instead of being taught in secure school buildings, Julie Hemingway's eight-year-old daughter, Michelle, and her classmates had their lessons in a temporary building which had no fence around it and couldn't be locked.

In preparation for the Bradford schools reorganisation, temporary classrooms have been provided at Ilkley's new primary schools.

However, the temporary building at Ashlands Primary, Leeds Road, Ilkley, was not placed in the school grounds but on open playing fields with no fence around.

It contained a central cloakroom and two classrooms where around 60 children from years four and five were being taught.

Mrs Hemingway contacted the Gazette last Friday, the second week of the new term.

"I am concerned about the safety of my daughter - the building is in an open field and not in the grounds of the school," said Mrs Hemingway, of Leeds Road, Ilkley.

She added: "You can walk in straight off the road - there is no security, no heating and no fire alarm. The teachers are not allowed to lock the children in and anybody could just walk in off the street.

"The school cannot guarantee my daughter's safety while she is in there," said Mrs Hemingway.

Stuart Moorhouse, the acting head teacher at Ashlands, said that Bradford Council were due to provide security fencing around the temporary building but had not done so by last Friday.

The Gazette contacted Bradford Council about the lack of security on Friday and on Saturday morning workers arrived to put up a fence around the building.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said that concreting and other work to make the fence more secure would be carried out by the end of this week.

But on Monday, Mrs Hemingway described the new fence as 'a load of cheap rubbish'.

She said part of the fence had already been blown or pulled down, still leaving the children at risk.

"Part of the fence is down so anyone can get in - I am very unhappy about it," said Mrs Hemingway.

She said that she was also unhappy that the building had no heating and a door which could be used as a fire escape was blocked off by a cupboard because of a three-foot drop to the ground outside.

Mr Moorhouse said that the situation was due to be examined by National Union of Teachers' officials to assess the risk to children.

Parish and District Ilkley Councillor Anne Hawkesworth said: "I think it is absolutely deplorable for children to be just left in a classroom where there is no security whatsoever."

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