TEACHER shortages in Southampton have been spelt out by city council education bosses.

Labour leader June Bridle has revealed the extent of recruitment difficulties in Southampton.

She explained that:

* Six schools were short of maths teachers.

* Five schools were short of English teachers.

* Five schools were short of science teachers.

* Three schools were short of religious education teachers.

* Three schools were short of IT teachers.

Mrs Bridle, executive member for education, conceded there were significant problems.

She said: "To overcome this schools are trying to find strategies to attract, recruit and retain staff.

"They are offering relocation packages and their advertising promotes Southampton as a nice place to come and work."

Conservative councillor Royston Smith pressed Mrs Bridle to guarantee there would be no classes cancelled due to shortages.

She said it was impossible to make such guarantees but explained the city did have a good source of supply teachers available.

The news comes after the Echo revealed overworked teachers were being stretched to the limit across Hampshire.

Heads are abandoning paperwork to help in the classroom, classes have been merged and teachers are covering subjects they were not trained in to cope with shortages.