Headteacher bans parents from the playground

A headteacher has infuriated parents by banning them from the school playground on health and safety grounds.

Mothers and fathers have been able to enter the grounds and even classrooms for years to drop off their kids off at the start of the day and pick them up after lessons.

But they have now been ordered to wait outside the gates of Chase Lane Primary School in Essex or face legal action for trespass.

The school claims it has taken action because adults were obscuring teachers' views of children in the playground - even though there is no record of any problems as a result.