SCHOOLS in Lancashire have paid out more than half a million in compensation to pupils and teachers over the last four years, it has been revealed.

Latest figures show that payments of £171,722 were made for a variety of inci-dents, including trapped limbs and slips, trips and falls, to pupils and teachers at schools across East Lancashire and Chorley.

The highest figures emerged at schools in Pendle where pupils claimed more than £54,000 in damages since 2007.

A payment of £26,500 was made for a trapped limb incident in 2008 and £2,500 for an incident involving a ‘needle stick’ in 2009.

The only recorded inci-dent involving a teacher at a school in Pendle was a slip/trip/fall incident in which £3,080 was paid in damages.

In Burnley, £52,958 was paid out to pupils, includ-ing £22,000 for a slip/trip incident in 2008 and £3,000 for a laceration in 2009 but there were no payments awarded to teachers.

The lowest figures were in Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, where, respectively, a pupil was awarded £12,550 for a slip/trip/fall incident this year and £3,500 was handed to two teachers in 2008 for being hit by an object.

Martin Burgess, head-teacher at Shuttleworth College in Burnley said schools were footing the bill for an emerging compensation culture.

He said: “There does not seem in our society anymore that there is such a thing as an accident.

“I am very grateful that Lancashire County Coun-cil support me when these incidents occur and they ensure that we don’t get hammered by claims.”

In Rossendale, £15,460.89 was paid out to pupils and £4,928.59 for a manual handling incident invol-ving a teacher and in Chorley successful claims totalled £30,000.

The highest payment to date in Lancashire was £136,149.70 to a teacher in Preston for an industrial asthma incident.

In Blackburn with Darwen, the council has not awarded any claims since 2007.