A secondary school in Fleet has been evacuated following a gas leak, with staff and pupils temporarily relocated to a nearby leisure centre.

Calthorpe Park School moved pupils and staff to the Hart Leisure Centre on Thursday as a precaution, while investigations were carried out.

Hampshire County Council confirmed that all children and staff remained safe.

Southern Gas Network (SGN) engineers are currently on site investigating the suspected leak, alongside engineers from the county council’s property services team.

Councillor Steve Forster, the county council’s cabinet member for education, said arrangements were put in place for pupils to either return home independently with parental permission or be collected by parents or carers.

Parents were contacted during the morning and asked to confirm directly with the school whether they were happy for their child to make their own way home.

Cllr Forster said: “We remain in contact with both SGN and the school, and will work to ensure that children and staff can return to school as soon as it is safe to do so.

“Any parents with queries should contact the school directly.”

The spokesperson said: “We can confirm the closure was due to a gas leak which was quickly isolated and work is currently ongoing to fully fix the issue.

“Heating has partially been restored to the school to allow a small number of students to safely return tomorrow to sit an exam, with the school expected to fully reopen to all pupils on Monday.”