PARENTS at one of the country's top independent schools have joined a growing number keeping children at home amid fears over the deadly Sars virus.

It emerged last night that 28 children at Ampleforth College, in North Yorkshire, were being kept away by worried parents.

Ampleforth, near Helmsley, is one of a number of boarding schools which have not quarantined pupils returning from the Far East - which has seen hundreds of deaths as a result of the outbreak.

More than 20 pupils are already being kept away from Terrington Hall and Woodleigh School, near Malton, North Yorkshire, which have also decided against quarantine measures.

A further six are being kept away from independent Durham School.

Ampleforth spokesman James Darley said the school had taken a "calm and considered position" based on the best advice available.

Thirty-three boys were recently allowed to return to Ampleforth from Hong Kong and the Far East, having shown no symptoms of the flu-like virus, and are now being subjected to twice daily health checks.

Some schools, such as Harrogate Ladies' School, have imposed quarantines on students from the Far East against advice from the Health Protection Agency.

Meanwhile, 12 students from Durham University who are studying at the Ren Min University in Beijing are taking no risks and are being flown home.

The East Asian Studies students have been there since September.

Five North-East hospital trusts have had to deal with a total of 21 suspected Sars cases since the alert began, but in each case it proved to be a false alarm.

Darlington based theatre company CTC was last night waiting to hear whether a trip to perform at a children's festival in Toronto, Canada, was still going ahead.

The World Health Organisation has advised against travel to the city because of an outbreak of Sars.