Major concerns have been raised over a rat infestation at a school. 

Videos are circulating social media of a large rat in the female toilets at Shoebury High School. 

A parent, with two children at the school, contacted the Echo to say his children had "heard scratching noises while in lessons". 

He claims pupils have seen rat dropping across the school. 

An email was sent to parents on Friday by headteacher Clare Costello. 

It read: "We have had sightings of rats on the school site. Of course this is never tolerated and we have been doing all that we can to identify the entry point. We have also been using the professional services of Ecolab and have ourselves contacted the council to inform them.

"We have identified a weak spot in the northwest corner of the building and have now closed this area so that it can be stripped and any possible entry points sealed. We will then do a deep clean of the area before reopening.

"I completely understand and sympathise with the concerns expressed by parents but I would hope that you would know that something like this would never just be accepted and that we would always be doing everything possible to remedy the issue.

"No one who has responsibility for such a large, expansive and open site could or should ever promise that they won’t experience what we have these last few days but I can promise that we put the well-being of students and staff above everything, we have a reputation for it, and so will always take immediate action to deal with problems like this."