A SECONDARY school will remain closed for a second day after a gas leak was discovered on Tuesday.

Staff at Carmel College in Darlington smelt gas outside at the school late on Tuesday afternoon and called Transco.

The 1,065 pupils at the school did not need to be evacuated, because the leak was outside and did not pose any danger.

However, the gas supply had to be disconnected in order for maintenance work to be carried out, which meant there would be no heating in the school, forcing head- teacher James O'Neill to close it.

He sent letters home to parents explaining the situation and saying he hoped the leak would be repaired by today, but engineers are still working on the problem.

Deputy headteacher Maura Regan, said: "A whole section of pipe needs to be replaced, because it was worn out and that's what caused the leak.

"We will definitely be closed on Thursday and possibly Friday, because the engineers still have a fair amount of work to do. Parents will have to listen to local radio each morning for confirmation.

"We apologise to parents for this inconvenience, but we really had no alternative but to close the school, because it would have been too cold without the heating.