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 sack the governors and appoint their own school leaders, the Telegraph & Argus has learned.

Neither head teacher Lynda Godden or chairman of governors Isobel Scarborough were available for comment.

But the Bradford Councillor responsible for education today called for talks to "build bridges" between people working at the school in Victoria Avenue, Keighley, which has 450 pupils of mainly Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds living in the Lawkholme area. And he warned that if improvements were not evident soon, Education Bradford would sack the governors.

The school was placed in Special Measures by Government watchdog Ofsted in 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 has imposed a deadline of early December when it will visit again. If steps have not been taken, 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: "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 chair of governors and head teacher and clearly the staff - there's some bridges that need to be built between them all."

Ian Murch, of the Bradford branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) 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 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."