Cockermouth School: Four corridors closed off due to risky concrete

Cockermouth School will reopen on Wednesday after a safety plan was put in place within days

The head teacher of a school containing dangerous concrete says he is waiting for structural engineers to assess part of its building which has had to shut days before the new term.

Cockermouth School had already been told it contained some of the material, which was being monitored.

More than 100 schools across England were told on Thursday to close areas with the concrete unless made safe.

Head teacher Richard King said safety was "absolutely priority number one".

Mr King said he had been forced to close four small corridors but because they were above the library and sports hall those areas had also had to be closed too.

He said the school would now reopen on Wednesday, a day later than planned.

The secondary school, which has about 1,300 pupils, would be safe to open, he said, and an alternative route was in place to access unaffected classrooms.

'Credible plan'

Safety measures have been put in place at 52 schools in England, which were deemed at risk of sudden collapse due to dangerous concrete.

More than 100 others, which were previously thought to be less at risk, were told by ministers to close areas with the concrete unless they were made safe.

Mr King said he took part in a video conference with the Department for Education on Thursday, after safety guidance changed.

"Their guidance was very clear that we had to stop using any area of the school immediately that was affected by this concrete," he told BBC Radio Cumbria.

"It is absolutely the last thing that we need - even though it's just isolated, the logistics of running a school need some careful consideration but we think we have a credible plan already and we have communicated that with parents and students."

The four corridors affected were added when the school was modified.

"We are waiting for surveyors and structural engineers to come to site and make sure that any mitigations that are necessary are put in place before those areas are opened," Mr King added.

"Thankfully because it's only a small area of the school it hasn't had such an impact on us that it clearly has had on other areas of the country, so if there is anything to be thankful for it's that."

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said the urgent rethink had been taken in England after a beam at a school collapsed over the summer that had been considered safe.