A TEACHING union has accused Ofsted of "rubbing salt into the wounds" of troubled Hameldon Community College by visiting just six months after it opened.

Ofsted inspectors found that Hameldon - an amalgamation of Ivy Bank and Habergham High School - was failing due to poor leadership, bad teaching and the attitudes of pupils after just six months and placed it in special measures, a tag given to failing schools.

But speaking as the council chiefs confirmed 79 pupils have been taken out the school since it opened in September, Lancashire NUT secretary Ken Cridland said the Ofsted visit was premature and had made matters worse.

Mr Cridland, said: "Ofsted have come in far too early, six months is too soon. They have rubbed salt into the wound, they make the observations, write the report, and run away without offering any support.

"The school needs space and a bit of time and I think a visit after 12 months would have been better."

Responding an Ofsted spokesman said: "Although it is not usual we can routinely inspect six months after a school opens. Ofsted had been made aware of some serious concerns which is why we inspected as early as did."

Headteacher Gill Broome said: "The school working with the local authority, staff, parents and students had already identified some of the problems Ofsted identified. Whether it was too early for them to visit is irrelevant,"