A GAS leak prompted the emergency closure of a New Forest primary school on Thursday.

Burley Primary School put out an urgent message to parents after the problem was discovered by a member of staff arriving for work.

A message on the Church Lane school’s website said: “Urgent: School is closed today due to gas problems. Please do not send your children to school.”

But it is believed that some did not see the message and were turned away at the school gates.

Head teacher Daniel Twyman told the Daily Echo: “Very early this morning a member of staff noticed a smell of gas within the school.

Immediate action was taken to close off the supply, vent the building and contact the gas company.

“An engineer is currently on site investigating the problem further. Understandably the school is not in a position to open until the issue is resolved. We are hopeful that the school will be open tomorrow.”

A staff member initially called the National Gas EmergencyService and an engineer from SGN was sent to the scene at around 8am.

The engineer carried out checks and established there was no leak from the SGN network.

A spokesman said the engineer left at 9.30am, leaving staff at the school to address the problem.

Parents were urged to keep up to date with information regarding timescales for re-opening via the school’s website and yesterday afternoon it was updated. to say: “Good news. The gas engineer just left and the school is safe to re-open tomorrow. Apologies for inconvenience caused.”