POLICE have begun an investigation into claims of sex abuse at a former approved school, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Durham Police said it was investigating three separate reports from complainants alleging they were the victims of sexual assaults while they attended Stanhope Castle approved school, in Weardale, County Durham.

It is understood one elderly former teacher at the school has been spoken to by detectives during the course of their inquiries, although he is not under suspicion.

A spokesman for Durham Police said in a statement: "We are currently investigating three separate reports from complainants alleging they were the victims of sexual offences while they were at the school.

“These allegations relate not to former members of staff but two other individuals, a male and a female, who had access to the school premises.

“The offences are said to have happened in the 1950s and the early 1970s."

Stanhope Castle, a grade II listed castle which was built in the late 18th century, became the location for a Home Office approved school during the Second World War.

A report in The Echo in January 1967 described how boys were sent to the school after persistent crime.

“Days are regimented, physical, tiring and suited to those who prefer to follow rather than lead,” it added.

Prefabricated classrooms were added to the school which was taken over by Cleveland County Council in the early 1970s.

It closed in 1981 after becoming under occupied and the main building was sold before being divided into flats and maisonettes which are still lived in today.

Police said their enquiries into the sex claims were at a “relatively early stage”.

The spokesman said detectives knew the identity of the woman being complained about, but she had yet to be spoken to. The man had not been traced, he said.

Durham Police is currently investigating allegations of sexual and physical abuse at another former institution, Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett.

It was launched in August 2013 to investigate incidents principally from the 1970s and 1980s and is now the biggest child abuse inquiry in the UK.