Pupils at a school hit by an asbestos scare returned to classes on Wednesday following safety assurances. Some parents at Ryshworth Middle School in Crossflatts had kept their children at home in the run-up to Christmas after it was revealed experts were checking the building for traces of the potentially-deadly fibre.

But an inspection and subsequent report by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has given a qualified all-clear. It says provided the asbestos is not disturbed, the school environment is safe.

Head-teacher Sue Naylor says the survey should reassure parents. All the children kept at home before Christmas have now returned. She says: "The HSE had the power to close the school if it thought the building was unsafe, and it did not. It was not unduly alarmed and the HSE is an authority on these matters."

Mrs Naylor adds that asbestos is not present throughout the whole school but is located in some ceiling and wall panels and toilets.

Ryshworth Middle - in Morton Lane - was the first of five schools in the Bradford district swooped on by the HSE in a general drive to check procedures for monitoring and dealing with asbestos.

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