SAFETY concerns over a primary school building has seen the site temporarily closed while emergency inspections take place.

External brickwork at Barnard Grove Primary School, in Hartlepool, is being independently surveyed after the Government’s Department for Education inspected parts of the school building over the half-term holiday.

A decision was made late on Friday last week to close the school from November 5 to November 7 to allow Hartlepool Borough Council to survey the entire building to ensure all children and staff are safe.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, the leader of Hartlepool Borough council, said: “This school was funded by the Government’s Education Funding Agency who commissioned the contractor, technical advisor and architect and was signed off by an independent building inspector, not a local authority building inspector.

“Responsibility lies firmly with the Government and we are pushing them to resolve this situation as quickly as possible."