A SALES and marketing manager from a Blackburn firm has become the third man to be charged following an investigation into financial mismanagement at an East Lancashire high school.

George Edward Brewin, 59, works for electronics manufacturer Unilab, in Hutton Street, which is part of the Philip Harris Group.

Mr Brewin, of Ridgeway, Penwortham, was charged yesterday with conspiracy to defraud the Department for Education and Employment by the fraud syndicate of Lancashire Constabulary's major crime unit .

He has been bailed to appear before magistrates at Burnley on Thursday afternoon.

Unilab was one of a number of sponsors supporting an application for technology college status by Mansfield High School, Brierfield.

Mansfield head teacher Ernest Pickup, 59, of Whalley Road, Blackburn, and the school's business manager Peter Edward Cowell-Smith, 43, of Raikes Road, Skipton, have already been charged with conspiracy to defraud. They have both been bailed to appear before Burnley Crown Court on August 3 and have both been suspended from the school on full pay. Charges relate to the Department for Education and Employment and are said to have been committed between January 1 1995 and December 31 1997.

The charges are in connection with an 18-month investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement at the school surrounding its successful bid for technical college status in 1997.

Unilab chief executive David Newcombe said Mr Brewin had not been suspended.

He added: "We are waiting to see exactly what these charges are. We will co-operate fully with the police and courts and we are waiting for details before we take any action. We were happy to support the school in its bid for technology status."

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