A MOTHER is refusing to send her son to Canvey’s secondary school, claiming he broke his foot in an accident there.

Sandra King, 42, of Paarl Road, Canvey, is worried about health and safety standards at the new Castle View School site, in Furtherwick Road, after an incident in which she says a cast-iron radiator fell on her boy’s foot.

Year 7 pupil Gary Gardener, 12, was taken to Basildon Hospital and X-rayed, though doctors have yet to confirm the seriousness of his injury.

Miss King has started a petition, urging the school to move Year 7 pupils back to the old building, in Meppel Avenue, until the new site officially opens in January – and is refusing to send Gary back in the meantime.

She said: “He is absolutely black and blue. I mean, you go to work thinking your child will be in safe hands when they are at school.

“There should have been someone watching these children, especially while building work was still going on and things were left lying around.”

The school claims Gary was in an area where he should not been when he was hurt, but his mum insists pupils were never told there were areas of the school where they should not go.

A school spokesman said: “At this stage, it is unclear how the incident happened. The school is currently investigating this.

“The school wishes to reassure all parents while the school has been undergoing extensive building work, the safety of pupils has been paramount.”

The new £28million school building, designed to accommodate 1,200 pupils, is being built in the grounds of the former Furtherwick Park School, which closed earlier this year as part of a secondary education shake-up on the island.

At present, only Year 7 pupils are being taught in the new building, with the rest of the pupils due to follow in January.