A SICKNESS bug has been blamed for almost halving the number of students at the Wensleydale School in Leyburn.

Out of the 498 who usually attend the school 220 were too ill to be there on Thursday of last week. And a further 40 became sick during the day and had to go home, with those still there concerned about what had caused the devastation. Many wondered if it was food poisoning.

With little improvement on the Friday and with seven staff also ill it was not easy to keep the school functioning but classes did continue. At one stage even the head teacher, David Eaton, was affected.

The North Yorkshire Health Authority said the problem was probably caused by Norwalk, a common bug which causes sickness and diarrhoea and spreads readily from person to person.

Last Friday, an infection control nurse and environmental health staff were at the school to give advice, take samples and investigate the cause of the outbreak.

The health authority said: "All necessary infection control measures are in hand to bring the outbreak to a close as soon as possible. The symptoms of the illness are unpleasant but short lived, and there is no cause for alarm. Outbreaks of this sort are not uncommon."

Yesterday the school was functioning normally with only a few students off sick