A SECONDARY school said one of the reasons it was forced to close yesterday was because Swindon council did not grit the road leading to it.

Ridgeway School closed yesterday and on Tuesday, saying Inverary Road leading to the Wroughton school was too dangerous for pupils and drivers to pass. Swindon Council said the road was salted, but it is not always obvious unless cars are using it. Wroughton Junior, also on Inverary Road, along with Isambard Community School, Red Oaks Primary and Southfield Junior also shut yesterday.

Ridgeway operations manager Jan Fyfe said: “The council could not supply the school with any grit. We had to close because of health and safety concerns for the children.

“We realise it is difficult for parents but health and safety is paramount at the school. With buses full of children coming down a slippy road, an accident is the last thing anybody would want to happen.”

The secondary also didn’t have enough teachers to operate as many commute over long distances.

“Some of the teachers could not travel to work so we have insufficient staff,” said Mrs Fyfe.

The site team were clearing the school grounds yesterday and Ridgeway hopes to have grit delivered from a supplier today. Isambard School in North Swindon said it was closed for safety reasons yesterday. Neighbouring Red Oaks blamed the weather for the closure but did not go into more detail on its website.

Geoff Leach, director of consultancy at the Health & Safety Advisory Service said schools were often left with little choice but to close, as heating often packs in.

“Sadly many schools suffer from lack of maintenance these days so they will close because lack of heating,” he said.

Icy roads are also a major reason for shutting.

“In these conditions roads leading to schools often have a mixture of children, pedestrians and vehicles, which is a bad combination,” he said. “The last thing a head would want is for a child to be seriously injured in an accident.”

He congratulated Swindon in keeping many schools open as Birmingham City Council decided to close all schools on Tuesday. Twelve schools closed in Swindon on Tuesday – they have all reopened apart from Ridgeway.

A council spokesman said: “Swindon Council takes the safety of people in and around Swindon very seriously, particularly in adverse weather conditions,” said a council spokeswoman.

“Our highways teams have undertaken an enormous task to grit and salt many roads across the borough regularly since the first snow fell, including public transport routes and minor roads.

“Inverary Road has been treated, with salt being put down in the early hours of the morning and in the evenings.”