Chigwell's Anderson School for autistic children to close

The Anderson School opened in 2017

A school for autistic children that inspectors said required improvement is to be shut down.

The National Autistic Society (NAS) said The Anderson School in Chigwell, Essex, will close at the end of July.

It said otherwise it "could take years" to bring the school "up to the standard it expects".

The Anderson Foundation said it felt "totally let down and bitterly disappointed" by the decision, blaming NAS for failing its responsibilities.

According to Ofsted inspectors, the school does not meet a number of standards, including welfare, health and safety of pupils.

Parents have also complained children were not being properly educated and last year Essex County Council began helping parents to withdraw students it had placed at the school, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The Anderson Foundation, which built the school with NAS, claims the charity failed to run the school to standards required by Ofsted.

However, NAS stated it had struggled with recruiting and keeping staff since the school opened in 2017.

Kirstie Fulthorpe, director of education at NAS, said they were "very disappointed" to be closing the site.

"We know it could take years to improve the school so it's delivering consistently good quality education and support, and that would simply not be fair on our students or their families. So we have taken the very difficult decision," she said.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, school staff are currently supporting vulnerable children and those of key workers on site, while others are being supported at home.