CHILDREN at a Southampton secondary school have been sent home until Monday after asbestos was discovered on site.

The discovery followed an incident on Wednesday where a burst water main caused a flood, forcing the head teacher of St George Catholic School for Boys, Helen Knight, to send all her pupils home.

The Daily Echo understands that while the pipe was being repaired yesterday, staff discovered it was lagged in a "small quantity" of potentially dangerous asbestos, prompting another exodus of pupils.

Workmen are on site putting the finishing touches to the Leaside Way, Swaythling, school's new £1.5m building, which will house an arts and music block as well as games facilities and a learning support centre.

A parent, who did not want to be named, said: "We were told a workman had put a hole through a pipe, which flooded the school. They then found out during the repairs that there was asbestos on the pipe.

"It doesn't bother me, the school's dealing with it in the right way."

The school will be closed until Monday at least and parents have been advised to listen to local radio for updates.

Asbestos was a widely used fire-retardant material until it was discovered it can be dangerous to health if small fragments are inhaled.

It lingers on in many institutional buildings and requires careful handling to remove safely.

Ms Knight said: "St George school was closed yesterday because of a burst water pipe - the incident happened as a £1.5m project to build a new arts, music and PE block as well as a learning support centre nears completion. The school was assured that work would be finished in time for the school to reopen today.

"However, during the repair work, further leaks were found in the water supply, and a small quantity of asbestos needed to be removed. Consequently there is still no water supply in the school.

"These added problems mean that the school cannot now re-open until Monday, September 29."