A BUSY road in Swanage had to be blocked off to traffic on Monday morning so that children could get into their school due to flooding.

Pupils from St Mary’s R.C. Primary School, on Northbrook Road, were escorted into the building by teachers and members of staff in high visibility jackets, while cars were asked to stop and let them walk through the middle of the road.

Head teacher, Linda Lake, says that while they love their new school, which they moved into last month after it was formerly based in the town centre, St Mary’s is yet to receive pathways outside the school gates for the children to walk on.

She said: “We have concrete blocks on the road, for the children to walk behind, but this is a temporary solution.

“On Monday morning, I had to get all my staff out there to help the children. We had to completely stop the road to all traffic, so that we could get the children into the school safely, as the area next to the blocks was flooded.

“Obviously the temporary measure just isn’t working in weather like this.

“So we are here, in our lovely new school, but our children cannot make their way safely into it.”

A spokesperson for Dorset County Council said that as part of the development build of the school, it was a condition that a pathway was created by the contractors on behalf of the Diocese of Plymouth, which operates St Mary’s R.C. Primary School.

The spokesperson added: “We did say that through planning that they could temporarily create a pathway using the concrete blocks. However, under the planning conditions, they have six months from the opening of the school, to build a path.”

John Mannix, Head of Schools at the Diocese of Plymouth, said that their local surveyor is working closely with the Highways Agency and Dorset County Council throughout the building process.

“Clearly neither the Diocese, the school, nor the Local Authority would wish for children and their parents to be adversely affected as some have been.”

He added: “The tremendous efforts of all parties meant that the school was able to open in September despite many unforeseen issues such as land ownership, topography and ecological impact, which threatened delays.

“If the school had not opened on time, many families would have been adversely affected.”