THE headteacher of a Ramsbottom school has been suspended following allegations of exam irregularities.

Mr Mike Duce was asked to leave Peel Brow Primary School after the governors contacted the Local Education Authority over irregularities concerning the Standard Attainment Tests (SATs).

Only last month the school, which has 246 pupils, received a glowing Ofsted report in which Government inspectors praised its high academic standard compared to other similar schools.

Chairman of governors, Mrs Barbara Jack, told the Bury Times: "We are aware of allegations of management irregularities in relation to the administration of SATs." She added: "I have asked the local education authority to investigate and to comment further at this stage could jeopardise the investigative process."

A spokesman for Bury's education department confirmed that Mr Duce had been suspended pending an investigation. He said that at this stage no further comment could be made.

Peel Brow Primary School, under Mr Duce's leadership, was the first and only school in Bury to opt out of state education and become Grant Maintained under the last Tory government. It is now back in Bury's "Family of Schools" after the Labour Government scrapped the scheme.

The Fir Street school now has foundation status, which means it is partly independent and partly under the local authority. In recent years it has achieved "above satisfactory" Ofsted reviews, with an outstanding report published last month.

In it Mr Duce was praised for his leadership skills, and the pupils were said to be achieving satisfactory grades or above, with 11-year-olds achieving above average or well above average marks in science, mathematics and English in the National Curriculum tests.