ANOTHER senior member of staff at the Hampshire special school facing shocking sex abuse claims has resigned, it has been revealed.

Houseparent Francis Callender has “decided to leave” Romsey's Stanbridge Earls School at the end of the term, according to a statement from the chairman of the board of Governors.

Mrs Callender was one of a number of people named as a witness for the school during a damning tribunal earlier this year. Governors are seeking a replacement.

As reported, a major police investigation continues into allegations made by two former students at the facility, which caters for youngsters with learning disabilities.

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

The tribunal found that the vulnerable youngster suffered “appalling abuse” at the hands of another student, while the £39,000-a-year 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.

Mrs Callender's resignation is the latest at the troubled school after head master Peter Trythall stepped down.

Parents were told of the news in a letter from the new chairman of Governors David Du Croz, who recently replaced Tony Knight in the position.

He wrote: “Due to a large number of sixth form leavers it has been decided to consolidate girls boarding into Goulds for the next academic year.

“Mrs Francis Callender, the current Houseparent in Goulds, has decided to leave Stanbridge Earls School at the end of this term and we will be starting the process to find a successor at the earliest possible opportunity.”