A TROUBLED Hampshire special school at the centre of sex abuse claims is to close.

Stanbridge Earls school in Romsey will cease to exist from December 1, when it will be taken over by another school.

Parents were informed of the decision in a letter this morning.

Although the school is closing, another school will remain on that site run by More House School, in Frensham, Surrey, which is a residential special school.

A spokesman confirmed that Stanbridge Earls school will close, the name will go, the trusts will be dissolved and the assets will be taken over by another school.

This follows a Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disability Tribunal, which found earlier this year that the school had discriminated against a girl and that staff members failed to tell the youngster's parents that she had complained of pain in an intimate part of her body.

As previously reported, the tribunal found that a vulnerable youngster had suffered “appalling abuse” at the hands of another student, while the school was slammed by panel members for being “unsystematic, unprofessional, ad hoc and completely inadequate” when it came to protecting the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Ofsted has taken disciplinary action against some of the staff involved in their investigation of the school and has since made a number of emergency inspections at the school highlighting the need for more improvements to be made.

Detectives from Hampshire police's public protection department are currently examining whether “further criminal offences” have been committed against other youngsters who have attended the school.

Previous head teacher Peter Trythall stood down in April.