THE SAFETY of Dursley's new secondary school has again been called into question by MPs who believe sprinkler systems should be fitted in all schools.

Ian McCartney MP, a former fire and civil defence authority member, said it was "scandalous" that Gloucestershire County Council decided not to install sprinklers in Rednock School.

The MP for Makerfield made his comments in a debate in Westminister on Tuesday and added that "there is no financial, safety or community rationale" for the authority's decision.

He was replying to a question put forward by Stroud MP David Drew who asked whether it was acceptable that the county council took a sprinkler system out of the designs for Rednock School to save money.

Mr Drew said: "At a late stage in the planning, Gloucestershire County Council decided to make a budget cut and took the sprinkler system out of the plans. That cannot be acceptable.

"I raised the matter with the council and asked it not to do it, but it wilfully carried on."

Accourding to the National Union of Teachers, every week in the UK 30 schools are damaged or destroyed by arson attacks.

Mr McCartney also pointed out that 50 people are injured in school fires every year, although no one has yet been killed.

In the UK only around 200 of the 30,000 schools are fitted with sprinklers. However in America most of their 150,000 schools are fitted with sprinkler systems and the cost of fire to the Government is half of that in the UK.

Mr Drew told the Gazette it was "mad" to make budget cuts in areas of safety and it must never be allowed to happen again.

"I appreciate that the school is next door to a fire station, but as it was pointed out to me Gloucestershire’s Fire Service College burned down this week so these things do happen. You cannot be too careful."

A Gloucestershire County Council spokeswoman said: "The safety of the users of Rednock School is the highest priority and the design of the fire protection system and means of escape is a key part of achieving this.

"Internationally known experts were employed to advise on the fire strategy of the school and this is reflected in the design.

"There was also consultation with the Fire Service to ensure these measures are in accordance with the relevant building regulation requirements.

"The outcome of the risk assessment at Rednock was that sufficient measures could be included in the building design to minimise the risk and impact of fire without the inclusion of a sprinkler system."