A 17-MONTH police investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement at one of the largest schools in East Lancashire has ended.

A file will now be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which will decide whether or not prosecutions will be brought.

The file relates to allegations surrounding Mansfield High School, Brierfield's successful bid in 1997 for prestigious technology college status.

The painstaking inquiry was conducted by officers from Lancashire Police's major crime unit based at headquarters in Hutton, near Preston.

The police decided not to charge anyone because of the complex nature of the case but instead gathered reams of evidence to pass to experts at the CPS.

Detective Inspector Peter Tracy, who led the inquiry, said: "It has been a long, hard slog."

The CPS is expected to take several weeks pouring over the paperwork before making a decision.

Staff, governors and members of the business community in North East Lancashire have been interviewed during the investigation. The police have also liaised with education bosses at Lancashire County Council and the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE).

Mr Tracy said today: "The inquiries into the main allegation of financial mismanagement at Mansfield High School involving sponsorship and obtaining grants from the Department for Education and Employment are now completed and a file is being passed to the CPS." Mansfield's head Ernie Pickup and business manager Peter Cowell-Smith were asked by the education authority to stay away from the 1,200-pupil school in December 1997 after the police were called in to investigate its finances. They have been absent ever since.

The inquiry centred on allegations of improper sponsorship arrangements as part of the school's bid to become a technology college following an audit. Mansfield had to raise £100,000 from local companies and prove strong links with industry as part of the successful bid.

Technology college status was subsequently withdrawn by the DfEE in 1998 because the school's application failed to comply with guidelines.

Last summer Mansfield was put under special measures after inspectors called in by the Government found the school's management was in a "fragile state".

Earlier this year Peter Dixon, head of Primet High, Colne, was appointed associate head at Mansfield to lead it out of special measures.

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