Teachers at a "failing" Keighley school have passed a vote of no confidence in the head.

Meanwhile, education chiefs, unhappy with slow progress at Eastwood Primary School, are preparing to use their powers to sack the governors and appoint their own school leaders, it has been revealed.

Neither head teacher Lynda Godden nor chairman of governors Isobel Scarborough were available for comment.

But the Bradford councillor responsible for education this week called for urgent talks to "build bridges" between people working at the school in Victoria Avenue, which has 450 pupils of mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds living in the Lawkholme area.

And he warned that if improvements at the school were not evident soon, Education Bradford would use its powers to sack the governors and replace them with an interim executive board.

The school was originally placed in special measures by Government watchdog Ofsted, in October, 2001.

The watchdog criticised low standards, poor quality teaching and ineffective management.

Since then it has been monitored closely by Her Majesty's Inspectorate but progress has been slow.

Education Bradford, which has the job of "supporting and challenging" schools, has imposed a deadline of early December when it will visit again.

If certain steps have not been taken, then Education Bradford will ask the Secretary of State for Education for permission to replace the governing body with an interim executive board.

But there may now be intervention sooner, due to the no confidence vote.

Councillor David Ward, Bradford Council's executive member for education, said: "It would look really bad if we said we can't do anything until December, which is the date of the next visit, when we know there has been a vote of no confidence in the head.

"There will be discussions and meetings about the vote of no confidence. It's an unusual thing to happen.

"It's about working with the chairman of governors and head teacher, and clearly the staff.

"There's some bridges that need to be built between them all. It can't wait six or seven weeks, it needs to start happening right now."

He added: "It would be the first time in Bradford that an interim executive board had been imposed. The old education authority would never dream of doing that. So many heads were allowed to go unchallenged."

Cllr Phil Thornton, Labour spokesman on education, said: "Drastic action is needed as we can't continue letting children down."

Ian Murch, of the Bradford branch of the National Union of Teachers, confirmed teachers had taken a vote of no confidence in Mrs Godden.

"People don't do this except as a last resort, because it's hard for a head to carry on once they've said it," he said.

"The staff and the NUT on their behalf, feel there's a crisis of confidence in the running of the school which urgently needs to be resolved."

He said being in special measures for two years put a terrible strain on staff who were constantly "under the microscope".

The 2002 Education Act gave education authorities new powers to sack governors and impose an interim executive board to run a school.

The guidance says: "The power is intended to be used only in exceptional circumstances ... (when) the governing body is judged incapable, with support, of turning the school around. The LEA should have evidence that a governing body is obstructing rather than enabling progress to be made in improving a school."