TEACHERS at a Blackburn special school are said to be in a state of panic amid fears the school will not make the grade in a coming inspection.

The National Association of School Masters Union of Women Teachers said staff at Fernhurst School, Heys Lane, have been told they are "unsatisfactory" - 13 months after the school opened.

Blackburn with Darwen Council education bosses have sent School Improvement Officers (SIO) to check on teaching standards after judging the school to be in difficulty.

The education watchdog Ofsted, which ruled Darwen's Moorland High School and Blackburn's Queen's Park Technology College be put into special measures in February, is expected to visit the school in the coming months.

Lesley Ham, secretary for the NASUWT, said staff feared a repeat of the decision to close and re-launch Queen's Park High School after it failed to improve rapidly enough.

She added: "Panic is setting in. The climate that the borough council has set is beyond belief. Teachers now know that with closing Queen's Park they will do it again. There is no duty of care to anyone. They are clearly just completely ruthless."

The school opened in September last year, for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties opened after a merger between Tullyallan and Bank Hey special schools.

Ian Kendrick, the council's deputy director of education and lifelong learning, said: "The LEA is working intensively with Fernhurst school, as it does with any school facing particularly challenging circumstances."

Dave Hollings, education executive member at the council, said: "Any school that is due to be inspected by Ofsted is visited by the SIOs to make sure they are as prepared as they possibly can be."