THE headteacher of Hameldon Community College has spoken for the first time about a difficult first term - and sent a defiant message to the critics.

The school was visited by police 19 times in the first five weeks of term and it is also at the centre of land row, but Gill Broom insisted: "I am pleased with the start we have made."

Hameldon, off Byron Street, Burnley, is a 1,050-place school which replaced Ivy Bank and Habergham High Schools.

Speaking exclusively to the Lancashire Telegraph, Mrs Broom said the first term had been a success story. She said: "The police come to school only when we call them and regarding the 19 times in five weeks reported - only three relate to incidents in the school.

"Two were to report mobile phone thefts and the other was when someone was spotted walking on the premises.

"I cannot control what happens outside school and only have jurisdiction for what happens inside.

"We have heard verbal accounts of people going around with knives but we've never found a knife on a pupil - if we did they would be expelled.

"In a school of this size you will always have some issues but they have not been based on race and often they have involved students who have sat next to each other for years.

"There is an awful lot of good going on and to be proud of here.

"We are aware there have been issues but they have been dealt with.

"I am convinced it will be a successful school and would give it eight of 10 for its start."

Since September the school has operated from its predecessors' buildings but is due to open in a new school on greenfield land off Rossendale Road in 2010. However, Burnley Council is refusing to sell land for the school, claiming traffic levels would make it unsafe for pupils and the development would damage the area's environment.

And unless there is change of heart, the government will hold a public inquiry to determine whether the proposals go ahead.

Further controversy has been caused after the number of times police were called to the school.

One woman claimed her son and a friend had been dragged into woods near the school, dunked in the river and had money taken off them.

Others claimed pupils had been stabbed with compasses and that knives were being taken into school.

Worried parents even staged a public meeting to discuss the issues because they said the school was not taking concerns seriously.

Extra CCTV was installed in the college's corridors and grounds following demands by Burnley council leader Gordon Birtwistle.

Last month Mrs Broom sent a letter to parents which revealed several pupils had been excluded following "a series of incidents".

The action prompted Coun Birtwistle to declare he was happy the college was finally putting its problems in the past.

And pupils' relatives are also hopeful the school has turned the corner.

They include Vic Kay, 66, from Burnley, who helped organise the parents' meeting.

He said: "The school and council have taken their heads out the sand."