AN EXPELLED teenager and a friend walked into a lesson and attacked two boys as a teacher taught the class.

The 16-year-old and another pupil from Sharples School beat up two 14-year-olds as their teacher ran for help. One boy was held in a headlock as his attacker threatened to smash his face against a porcelain washbasin during the assault at the school.

The other boy suffered a broken nose when he was punched.

The attackers then walked out of the school.

Now police are to put extra patrols around the school at Hill Cot Road this week amid fears of revenge attacks.

And senior officers reassured parents that it was safe to send their children to the school.

Headteacher Kevin Clarke has denied rumours that the attacks are linked to clashes between rival gangs at the school.

Eight pupils have been expelled since November following a series of incidents.

Cllr Hilary Fairclough, the school's chairman of governors, said police had responded to recent violence after school by maintaining a daily presence but that this had recently come to an end.

She said: "I will be demanding to know whether the school knows more about gang problems than it is letting on to the governors.

"The police have spent a lot of time here but they felt the school was capable of taking care of its day-to-day problems.

"But it is fair to say that we have more than 1,200 pupils here and certainly no more than a handful of pupils causing problems."

Police have confirmed that a 16-year-old has been arrested and bailed following the attack, which happened at 1.30pm on Friday and they expect to arrest a 14-year-old boy in the next few days.

Inspector Tony Kenyon said: "We have had a number of incidents at Sharples School but parents should not be frightened to send their children there.

"All the incidents have been dealt with robustly, with the police and school working together and we will continue patrols to make sure any tensions do not spill over outside the school."

In October, two youngsters were injured after fighting at the school led to two pupils being arrested and another 12 being suspended.

Trouble flared when youths who were not pupils at the school gathered outside the gates and a police searching the area found a baseball bat, a golf club and a broom handle in cars parked nearby.

A month earlier, children were showered with glass when a gang of stone-throwing youths smashed the window of a school bus amid running street battles.

Headteacher Mr Clarke denied there were gang problems at the school following the latest incident.

He said: "This attack involved only the two boys who came into the school and their victims.

"Members of staff reacted to the situation immediately and the incident was dealt with very quickly.

"This is an extremely rare occurance and the two boys who were assaulted were back in school on Monday."