POLICE investigating allegations of sex abuse at a Catholic college and a top preparatory school today arrested three more men.

The men, believed to be priests, were detained after attending Accrington police station voluntarily with their solicitors. They are not currently connected to the school or the college.

The arrests are part of the police operation codenamed Whiting into allegations of sexual abuse at St Mary's Hall and Stonyhurst College, Hurst Green.

All three are members of The Society of Jesus - the Jesuit organisation behind the college and the school.

The former head teacher of St Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, is currently awaiting trial on six offences of indecently assaulting boys under the age of 14 between September 1972 and June 1988.

Robert O'Brien, 56, was suspended by school governors last October and has since taken early retirement.

Four teachers and a priest were also arrested in April and charged with offences of indecent assault as part of the same operation.

The five, a current teacher at Stonyhurst College who is now suspended, three former teachers at St Mary's Hall and a former priest at the college complex, are also awaiting trial at Preston Crown Court.

Detective Inspector Steve Marston, of Lancashire police, confirmed the arrests and said: "They will be questioned about offences of indecent assault involving former pupils."

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