THE scaffolding outside a Clitheroe primary school has been alarmed after people started climbing on it after school hours.

The structure has been erected at St James’ CE Primary School as part of a major construction project to replace the roof.

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Police in Clitheroe have said that it was received reports of teenagers playing on the equipment and have made the issue a priority.

The Greenacre Street school said the project was expected to take 16 weeks and will cause minimum disruption to its 284 pupils.

It is however expected that the work to replace the roof of the 100-year-old building will force certain classes to move locations within the school for a short period.

It is thought that certain classes will have to be taught in the school hall while work is being done near their usual classroom.

The project became necessary after water started leaking into corridors inside the building.

Parents are being kept informed about the development through the school’s regular newsletters.

Clitheroe Police said the local neighbourhood policing team will patrol the area to deter people from climbing on the scaffolding.

PC Justin Brown said: “When the scaffolding was first put up the school had quite a number of incidents where people were climbing on the framework.

“We were called a number of times and our officers encouraged the youths to come down but no arrests were made.

“We have now set up a regular patrol in the area of the school to try to make sure that this does not happen again.

“Some of the people were quite high up which is very dangerous.

“The problem has died down a little bit over the last week or so. I hope that no one else tries to climb the scaffolding.”

Clitheroe Town Council leader Mary Robinson, a former governor at the school, said: “Young people should seriously think about what they are doing because it’s a stupid thing to do.

“It’s irresponsible and they could not only damage the building but they could also harm themselves.

“I hope that people do not continue to clamber about on the scaffolding while it’s still up around the school.”