School shut after major incident declared to reopen

Martins Wood Primary School in Stevenage will stay closed until Monday

A school that was shut after a "major incident" was declared and three people were taken to hospital will reopen on Monday, its headteacher said.

Emergency services were called to Martins Wood Primary School in Mildmay Road, Stevenage, in Hertfordshire, on Wednesday, just after 13:00 BST.

The East of England Ambulance Service (EEAS) said 15 patients – six adults and nine children - were treated after feeling unwell.

At first there were concerns there had been a carbon monoxide leak, but headteacher, Zoe Phillips, said on Thursday "the school was thoroughly tested and inspected by a Gas Safe registered heating engineer, and carbon monoxide has not been detected in any area of the building".

There are more than 720 pupils at the primary school

She added: "The member of staff and two children who were taken to hospital have all now been discharged and medical tests have shown no evidence of carbon monoxide in their systems. All three incidents are now believed to be unrelated to each other.

"Because three people became unwell in a short space of time, the emergency services declared a major incident.

"Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue suspected that it might be a carbon monoxide leak and we were instructed that no one should enter or leave the site."

Ms Phillips said a further inspection by an independent specialist would take place on Friday and the school had requested an external health and safety investigation.

She thanked parents for their "patience and understanding".

Addressing some concerns voiced on social media about a lack of communication to parents at the time, she said: "Once a major incident was declared, we were under the instructions of the emergency services... and were guided by the protocols of a major incident.

"This included limiting communications, so that parents did not come to school early, and only releasing children to go home when we were instructed that it was safe to do so."