December 8th, 2006

A classroom at a school in the UK has been sealed off after asbestos was discovered, amidst fears that staff and children have been exposed to the deadly dust. The asbestos was discovered at the Nightingale Junior School in Derby, and the dust is thought to have leaked from a void in the roof.

Union officials believe that a number of students and a couple of staff members may have been exposed to the asbestos as a result of the leakage. According to government officials the clean up will now take place over the course of the Christmas period, and the actual asbestos will be removed in the summer.

According to the head teacher of the school: "The wind dislodged the roof hatch and we got the children out within five minutes of me finding out that." A union official stated: “Firstly we do accept the school is safe now. There's no risk to pupils, there's no risk to staff.”

He continued: “But this was identified as a problem in February this year - the city council carried out a condition survey and they should've acted straightaway to seal up the panels so no asbestos could leak out.”