A FORMER Haslingden High School headteacher has drawn on his own classroom experiences for his second novel.

Nigel Jepson, who taught at the school for nine years, said "Cut and Run", which follows the life of a headteacher who decides to tackle a school in special measures, had echoes of his own career.

The 58-year-old, who was headteacher at Carlton Bolling College in Bradford when it was in special measures, said: "There's always going to be an element of personal knowledge and experience but it is fictional from the point of view of characters.

"The main character, Simon Russell, is a headteacher and I am a headteacher so there are familiarities in terms of the pressures of the job and the rewards."

But in the book Simon is not the only one whose life has been turned upside down.

His neighbour Tom, a journalist back from New York, is battling cocaine addiction. His hairdresser Miranda is trying to come to terms with being a single mother of three, and PE teacher Emma reacts to the end of her long affair with a married man by applying for the post of deputy head.

Nigel, who lives in Ramsbottom, added: "It is a heart-warming story of how the lives of these four damaged, but positive people intersact and the part they play in each other's fate."

"Cut and Run" is published in hardback by The Book Guild (price £10.99) and is available in all local bookstores, including Waterstone's from Thursday April 27.