A MARRIED teacher who was cleared of raping a 17-year-old schoolgirl he admitted having sex with has been given his job back.

Lee Savage (31), of Roseland Drive, Prestwich, was suspended as head of history at Bolton's Sharples School after the girl claimed he raped her at a young enterprise convention on the Isle of Wight.

He was cleared in court of rape and indecent assault, but remained suspended until a disciplinary inquiry by school governors had been completed.

Chairman of governors Hilary Fairclough has now confirmed that Mr Savage, a teacher for six years, has been reinstated and will soon return to school.

She said: "It will not be long but things have to be agreed and settled."

Mr Savage, who as a head of the history department and earns around £32,000 a year, was accused of rape and indecent assault during at the convention at Shanklin.

He admitted having sex with the teenager but said that she had willingly participated. A jury at Winchester Crown Court took less than an hour to find Mr Savage not guilty of rape and an alternative charge of indecent assault.

Mr Savage's wife, Lindsay, stood by her husband and accompanied him to court.