A HEADTEACHER said today he had no choice but to close his school after it came under attack from vandals.

For the past three weeks, windows at Edge End School in Hibson Road, Nelson, have been smashed on a regular basis and tiles have been ripped from the roof.

Staff arrived on Monday morning to discover glass panels in the ceiling of a covered walkway had been smashed, windows in the main hall broken and rainwater flooding parts of the building.

Headteacher Martin Burgess, said: "This has been going on for three weeks. This is the fifth time they have done it.

"There was so much water in the corridors there was a danger of children slipping on the wet floors, so we had to close."

The school, whose past pupils include the actor John Simm, star of the film Human Traffic, was closed for the day and pupils were sent home.

Sunday night's torrential rain poured through the smashed window panes and flooded corridors.

Officers from Nelson police confirmed that vandalism had been a problem at the school in the past and they were investigating the latest attack.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council's education department said schools being forced to close through vandalism was not a common occurrence.

Last year, out of the 500 schools which fall under their control, just three days were lost in the academic year.

Today the school re-opened after workmen replaced some of the smashed windows.