EXTRA Government cash and the possibility of new laws were promised to schools today in a bid to step up security in the wake of the Dunblane massacre and the stabbing of London headmaster Philip Lawrence.

Schools will also get priority for money to install closed circuit TV systems.

The promise came the day after a security scare at Bolton's Sharples High School when a male intruder allegedly threatened a girl pupil inside the building.

He was later arrested and will appear in court on June 17.

But Education Secretary Gillian Shephard warned it is not possible to turn schools into fortresses although she has backed a report calling for major new measures to keep out intruders.

The report of a special working group on school security, initially set up after Mr Lawrence's killing, was delayed to take into account the massacre in Dunblane.

The Government has already accepted the group's recommendation to make it a specific criminal offence to carry a knife or other offensive weapons on school premises. The police are also being given new powers to stop and search for weapons in school buildings and grounds.

The Government is also to review the law to see if other measures are needed to deter intruders.

Mrs Shephard has promised headteachers a substantial cash injection for schools seeking to upgrade security through the Grants for Education Support and Training programme.

New guidance for schools on security is also to be published concentrating on ways to restrict access.

This guidance will cover both designing security into new schools and improving existing buildings.

Bids from schools for closed circuit TV under the CCTV Challenge Competition should be given priority, the report recommends. It also urges schools, governors, local education authorities, teachers and the police to work closely together on the issue.

Welcoming the report Mrs Shephard said the Government will act on any further recommendations on school security arising from Lord Cullen's inquiry into Dunblane.

She promised a review of the law and "substantial new money specifically earmarked for the improvement of school security" for both mainstream local education authority and opt out schools.

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