A PRIMARY school has been forced to close its doors as dozens of staff are forced to self isolate amid an outbreak of coronavirus.

Children will be unable to attend City Academy Whitehawk, in Whitehawk Road, as the school has failed to meet "statuary staffing levels".

More than 20 staff members are currently isolating due to close contact with cases in and out of the school, including all of the school's first aid trained staff.

It means that headteacher Thomas McMorrin cannot "run a safe school" and the decision to close has been made.

Writing to parents last night, he said: "Following a thorough assessment of risk, I have to close City Academy Whitehawk to all children on Monday, July 5.

"Pleased be assured that this is not a decision that has been made lightly.

"My most important job is to keep the community safe.

"The decision to close temporarily has been made due to our inability to meet statutory staffing levels not due to illness within the staff team.

"With over 20 staff embers isolating due to contact with cases in or out of school, including all of our first aid trained colleagues, we currently cannot ensure staffing numbers that keep all children safe in the event of an emergency."

Children will return to school "early this week", he said.

It comes as the government was warned that schools across England are “bleeding out” due to quarantine rules that have forced thousands of children and teachers to isolate.

Gerard Jones, the director of children and young people at Oldham Council, said in an interview with The Guardian the current quarantine bubble rules risk the nation’s most vulnerable children being “left behind”.

Mr Jones said Oldham was struggling to keep its schools open, with 400 staff and more than 6,400 children in isolation.

He told the paper: “What we’re getting from the Government is ‘be patient’ and the Department for Education have just refused to say very much about it at all. Meanwhile we’re bleeding out here.

“This is not just an issue Oldham is facing but is being seen across Greater Manchester with thousands of pupils affected. Northern kids are at risk of being left behind – when exams do go ahead children from wealthier boroughs will have had far more schooling.

“We need a new plan for daily testing and a reformed approach to how we handle Covid in schools and we need these not in three months but now.”