THE majority of pupils returned for the first day of term at a Burnley school where a student was attacked with a baseball bat.

More than 90 per cent of students attended Hameldon Community College today, up from less than a quarter in the days after an intruder armed with a baseball bat stormed into the school and hit an Asian pupil on the head.

Today's attendance figures are on a par with the average for Burnley and Pendle and would suggest that parents are satisfied that their children are safe at the Byron Street school, which stepped up security measures over the Christmas break.

But some parents say they "still have fears" about safety at the school.

Two police officers were on hand for the first day back, as was a representative for education authority Lancashire County Council, but the morning passed without incident.

Headteacher Gill Broom held two informal drop-in sessions for parents in Burnley and Padiham last week, to give them a chance to raise any concerns about the situation with staff and governors.

Ms Broom said: "The meetings were very encouraging. There was a steady stream of parents attending throughout the sessions and we made notes of their concerns they raised and agreed actions with them.

"The feedback at the end of the sessions was that people were feeling positive that the difficulties that the school has been facing are being tackled."

Additional CCTV cameras were installed at the school during the holidays, and this term staff will be carrying out additional patrols during lunchtimes and breaks. The governors have also commissioned a health and safety audit of the site.

Parent Biladar Khan, who was dropping his two children at school yesterday morning, said: "I am still worried about sending my kids to school but we got a letter saying everything was going to be OK now safety-wise.

"It said there would be patrols going on which is good because it could happen again."

Tanzeela Sultana, a parent with one child at the school, said: "We have had a letter assuring us that everything will be fine but then again we have still got fears - I am still afraid.

"My son is only in the first year and I had to tell him that these things do happen.

"We are going to see how it goes now before we send our other children from junior school here."

Liaqat Ali, who has a son in year nine, said: "I have got a few worries but I think it was a one-off incident.

"My son said he has some troubles about coming back to school but if the governors and the police look after them properly then it won't happen again. If they don't it could happen again."

Four teenagers, two of whom are current pupils and one of whom is a former student, have been arrested and bailed in connection with the attack, with the condition that they do not go near the school.

Attendance at Hameldon went from 52 per cent to just 25 per cent in the three days following the incident before the school broke up for Christmas.