FOUR nine-year-old boys have been suspended from school after being found with cannabis in the playground.

Police said they were called to Cherry Fold Community Primary School, in Cog Lane, Burnley, following reports the children had been discovered with the class B drug.

Officers spoke to the boys and their parents and issued each of the youngsters with a youth referral order.

The school’s head confirmed four pupils had been suspended while an investigation into the incident, which happened just after noon on Friday (1), is carried out.

Yesterday parents outside the school expressed their shock at the incident, describing it as ‘disgraceful’.

But the mother of one of the suspended boys said it was a reflection of how bad the area had become and vowed to move her family to another town in an attempt to distance her children from illegal activity.

The mum said her son had told her the drugs had been sold in the school playground in an operation headed by another boy.

The drug was sold for as little as 50p.

She said: “I’ve questioned my son and he’s told me that he felt like he was being pressured to collect money and hand out drugs.

“He’s told me there was an operation where one child would take the money and another would hand out the drugs.

“It’s shocking and unbelievable. People I’ve spoken to over the weekend cannot believe it. It’s scandalous.

“My feelings are mixed because my son says he felt like he was pushed into it, but at the same time I teach my children right and wrong.

“They know about the dangers of drugs and stealing and they know where the dealers live and to stay away from them.

“In my eyes I know he was doing wrong, so I can’t defend him. I’m disappointed in him.”

The mother of the suspended boy said she wanted people to know how bad things had got in the area with “kids drinking, messing with drugs and starting fires”.

Last week police confirmed an arson probe had been launched after a blaze in a row of boarded-up terraced houses in Accrington Road.

In August, children as young as eight-years-old were questioned by police after a block of under-construction homes, also in Accrington Road, were torched.

She said: “There’s a new era of really horrible children whose parents don’t have any control over them.

“People need to be made aware of how bad it is. The area is going downhill by the day. Passing kids drugs in school is the last straw.

The woman said she expected to find out whether her son’s exclusion would be made permanent later this week.

Outside the school gates parents said they were horrified to hear about the ‘shocking’ incident.

One mother said: "I think it is disgusting. It just shows the way this town is going. It's terrible.

"To think children so young are involved in it is frightening."

Another parent said: "It's absolutely shocking. I'm a working mum and when I drop my son off at school I want to have peace of mind that their learning, and not associating with that."

Deanne Marsh, acting headteacher at Cherry Fold Community Primary School, said: "I can confirm that four pupils are currently not at school while investigations are carried out into an incident at the school.

“It would not be appropriate for me to comment further as we take our pupils' confidentiality and safety very seriously and we are still looking into all the circumstances."

A police spokeswoman said: “We were called to the school following reports that four children had been found in possession of cannabis. Officers spoke to the children and their parents and issued youth referral orders.”