Luton schools to close for two days due to Big Weekend

Chiltern Academy warned BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend would make travel "extremely difficult" for staff and pupils

Two schools will be closed to most pupils over two days because of "significant road closures" caused by BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend.

The music event is taking place at Luton's Stockwood Park on 24-26 May.

Dallow Primary School will close on 23 May and Chiltern Academy will shut on 23 and 24 May, after parents were told travel would be "extremely difficult".

Chiltern Learning Trust, which operates the schools, said the decision would be kept under review.

Children will be given home and online learning materials.

Luton Council said the schools were in areas not expected to be badly affected and had "made their own decision to close".

GCSE students will be expected to attend school for their exams as planned

Parents at Chiltern Academy, on Gypsy Lane, were sent an email saying "significant road closures" would make it "extremely difficult for staff and students to travel to and from school".

Year 11 pupils sitting GCSE exams on 23 and 24 May would still have to attend school, the email said.

Staff training meant children at Dallow Primary were already scheduled to be off on 24 May.

A Chiltern Learning Trust spokesman said: "We value the Big Weekend event's significant community impact; however, these decisions were made after carefully considering the wellbeing and safety of the pupils and staff at these schools.

"The decisions will be kept under review if any new information is published that changes our initial evaluation of impact."

Coldplay are closing BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Luton on 26 May

A council spokeswoman said the schools were outside of protection zones, meaning they were not expected to be heavily affected by the festival.

Organisers had worked closely with the council to "reduce potential disruption", she added.

The council is in the process of finalising its traffic management plan and will hold two events on 23 April so residents living near Stockwood Park can find out more about its impact.

A spokeswoman said it would be meeting with schools in the "impacted areas" after the Easter holidays.

• Radio 1's Big Weekend coming to Luton

• Alfie Templeman: Radio 1's Big Weekend will aid Luton music scene

• Luton deserves a bit of fuss, says Radio 1 star

Coldplay will headline the three-day festival, which also features acts including Chase & Status, Raye, Sabrina Carpenter, Olly Alexander and Vampire Weekend.

The location of the annual music event was announced by presenter Greg James on his BBC Radio 1 breakfast show.

Note: This story was first published on 4 April and amended after Luton Council spokeswoman said: "Unfortunately, we made an error when we said we had met with Chiltern Academy. There was a mix up our end and it was in fact another academy we had met with. We contacted them to let them know about our error and to apologise for the mistake."