A BOLTON headteacher has joined health and safety bosses in urging schools not to be put off running educational trips by fears of legal action over possible accidents.

Brian Essex, headtacher at Tonge Moor Primary School, has supported a call from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) asking schools not to be put off by the legal threat.

The HSE issued the message after a North-west school was fined £3,500 following an accident during a school visit to north Wales.

But both the HSE and Mr Essex have stressed that organisers must be aware they have a duty to plan and manage such events properly.

Mr Essex -- who is also the National Association of Headteachers' Bolton representative -- said that, in his experience, the threat of legal action had not prevented schools from organising educational trips.

He said: "The last thing that anybody wants to see is a reduction in the number of opportunities for children to take part in exciting educational visits and activities.

"However, safety must be -- and always has been -- the prime consideration for teachers taking part in educational visits."

Jewish Senior Boys School, in Salford, was fined £3,500 last week and ordered to pay £400 costs at Salford Magistrates' Court following an accident during a trip to Snowdonia in April last year.

The school pleaded guilty to a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act after two pupils fell 100 metres down a steep scree at Aber Falls.

Five other pupils had to be winched to safety by an RAF helicopter.