COUNCIL bosses have given permission for problem-plagued Moorhead High School to be protected by a metal shield.

Less than 24 hours after the playground clashes which resulted in 16 youths being suspended, permission was given for 2.4metre-high fences to be placed around the school's grounds.

Although the fact the project was discussed so soon after the gang fights was purely co-incidental, a report presented to county councillors said the need for the fencing had stemmed from trouble-making pupils.

Members of Lancashire County Council's development control committee were told that part of the perimeter of the school was already protected with the high fences, and that the additional 330metres would mean the school was totally ringed by the high fence.

The new fencing will cover the eastern and southern boundaries of the school where, according to the report, there is currently a problem with pupils running into residents' gardens from the school grounds.

"The new fencing would prevent this," a spokesman for the county council said.

Residents had asked for the fences to be just two metres high but county officers said they feared it would create a series of 'hot spots' with troublemakers able to scramble over the lower sections of the fence.

The existing fence is 2.4metres high. The money for the project has been come from Government cash awarded annually to education authorities every year to improve security. Nobody was available from the education authority to say whether the additional fencing could have prevented Tuesday's fighting.

Moorhead has also been the victim of several arson attacks in recent years.

Education bosses vowed to tighten up security in December 2000 when arsonists torched a classroom causing £250,000 of damage.