IN their fight for extra security at a local primary school, a group of concerned Heysham parents have gained the backing of Morecambe and Lunesdale MP Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd. For years, parents, teachers and governors of Saint Patrick's RC School in Heysham have been appealing to Lancashire County Council for a fence to be constructed around the school to keep unwanted "visitors" out. Worried chairman of Saint Patrick's Parents Association, Val Jones, said in a letter sent to Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd MP:

"We are experiencing, on an almost daily basis, uninvited visitors on our school grounds. Motorcycles being wildly driven by youths across our school field and we have frequently had abusive drunkards on the field.

"The most obvious solution is to put up a fence and keep uninvited visitors out. Feelings are running incredibly high and parents are frightened that their child is the one who is hurt."

Headteacher Les Turner has become so concerned that he has started to keep the children inside at playtime when he believes strangers could pose a threat.

But after a visit to the school by Sir Mark, he now believes that the county council should pay for secure fencing by developing nearby land. In a letter to the chief executive of the county council, he said: "It does seem essential that such a fence should be provided by the county and I am at a loss to understand why it was never provided when the school was originally constructed.

"It occurs to me that the council-owned wasteland next to the school could be developed and the monies raised used to build the fence."

A county council spokesperson said the authority was looking into the matter.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.