A SOUTH Essex secondary school closed after asbestos was discovered in the rubble of a demolished building will not reopen until the new year.

The King Edmund School in Rochford was closed last Tuesday after contractors brought in by the Department for Education to lead the construction of a new 30-classroom building discovered “traces of asbestos” on the site.

Parents were informed at 10.30pm on Monday, November 14 the school would be closed the next day.

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They were then told the DfE would require the school to be closed for "two – three days,” before again being informed last Friday it would remain closed this week.

Yesterday, headteacher Jonathan Osborn wrote to inform parents the school will be closed “until the New Year”.

Dismayed parents have voiced fears their children could have inhaled asbestos, as it was found in the rubble of a building demolished in May.

Luke Kennedy, deputy director of the DfE’s school rebuilding division, wrote to Mr Osborn to allay such fears, saying 200 points across the school would be tested for traces of the carcinogenic fibre.

“All air tests conducted so far have not given any results that cause concern,” Mr Kennedy said.

“However, we are clear that there were some traces of asbestos on the ground in the fenced-off area where the demolished building was sited.”

Mr Kennedy added that all remaining asbestos will have to be removed from under the rubble before the DfE can allow the school to reopen.

The school has been inaccessible to staff since it closed. Teachers have been unable to access the equipment needs to provide all pupils with Microsoft Teams video-call classes.

Mr Osborn says the DfE has assured school leadership they will be able to access the premises at the end of the week.

“This will put us in a much stronger position to move to live lessons from Monday, November 28,” he told parents in a letter.

He added: “They [DfE] make clear that they have taken a decision to undertake further works on the school site and I’m sorry to have to say that this means the school will remain closed until the New Year.”