THE future of Whitehaven Academy has been raised by community leaders following a health and safety incident at the school.

Copeland's MP Trudy Harrison and Whitehaven Town Council are calling for the academy to be high on the government's agenda.

The town council is also planning to host another public meeting about the school's future.

Their renewed calls for change follow an incident on Wednesday involving a fault with the school's oven. The whole school had to be evacuated as a precaution.

Mrs Harrison has contacted the government's Secretary of State and Regional Schools Commissioner's Office about the incident.

She says she has been raising health and concerns for months, and "urgent action" must be taken for the school, which is run by the Bright Tribe trust, to be re-brokered.

Bright Tribe said rigorous safety checks are carried out at the academy.

Mayor of Whitehaven, councillor Brian O'Kane said Bright Tribe was leaving the academy "slowly" and he wanted to highlight the issue again. He called for a meeting "to put pressure on the government" and "make sure Whitehaven Academy is high up on the agenda".

"I want to make sure as a council we are fully behind Whitehaven Academy," he said.

Coun O'Kane will also write to the fire service to ask them to check the school's facilities.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service said the oven "malfunction" on Wednesday meant staff and pupils were evacuated from the building as a precaution.

Firefighters isolated the ovens to make the kitchen safe and advised the school to call in an engineer.

Mrs Harrison claims the oven fault was due to a lack of maintenance.

She added: "I, and many others, have been warning about health and safety concerns for months now, it is a miracle that no-one has been hurt or worse.

"I have, once again, raised my concerns with the Secretary of State and Regional Schools Commissioner's Office and in light of the the incident I hope swift action will be taken to take control of Whitehaven Academy. The warm words of Bright Tribe's departure from Copeland were welcome, they must be matched with urgent action."

Bright Tribe announced in November that it was set to leave, and the school would re-brokered. As yet no details have been revealed about who would take over.

A Bright Tribe spokesperson said: "Following a kitchen appliance malfunction, fire-fighters were called to the school immediately and the issue was resolved swiftly and effectively with a full safety inspection by the visiting Chief Fire Officer.

"The school places the safety of its students and staff as its number one priority and no one was placed in any danger. The school has rigorous processes in place and all kitchen equipment is checked annually by an external contractor. Following safety checks the school continued as normal for the rest of the day."