THE PAKISTANI town where Osama Bin Laden had been hiding was in a school twinning partnership with Blackburn, it has emerged.

Education bosses said they were ‘absolutely amazed’ to learn that the world’s most wanted man had been living in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which had links with Daisyfield Primary School.

The British Council, which organised the scheme, revealed the ‘Blackburn Abbottabad partnership’, which involved three other schools, had ran since 2008.

It said the partnership had come to the end of a three-year project with ‘no further plans’ to continue.

Beardwood Humanities College and St Thomas and St Matthew’s primary schools were also involved with the Connecting Classrooms project, which is funded by the British Council.Coun Maureen Bateson, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “It was such a coincidence, we couldn’t believe it.

“The school phoned us to ask for advice, and I would hope something like this doesn’t necessarily stop the links from being there.”

Under the programme, children in Blackburn have exchanged letters with youngsters in Abbottabad, the city 30miles north of Islamabad where the Al Qaeda chief was found and shot dead by US soldiers last month.

Teachers from Abbottabad visited Blackburn, including in 2008 when they toured local landmarks and met the mayor.

Daisyfield headteacher Peter Fenton played down the exchange, saying an attempt to forge email contact had failed, and it was now being wound down.

He said: “From my understanding, the project is about to finish.”

The four schools each received around £1,500 in 2008 and 2009 to take part in the programme, the British Council said, but nothing this year.

In a statement, it added: “Connecting Classrooms is a British Council programme that builds lasting partnerships between schools in the UK and others around the world with the aim of developing understanding and trust between young people.”

Bin Laden had been living in the upmarket city of Abbottabad for up to seven years when he was killed in a raid by US special forces.

The United States had spent years tracking the terror chief to the custom-built, walled compound was close to Pakistan’s military academy. He was shot dead after a gun battle with the soldiers.