THE headteacher of a newly-opened Christian secondary school has resigned only weeks after pupils were caught looking at Internet pornography sites.

Parents were sent letters telling them Karen Robson, headteacher of All Saints CE secondary school, in Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton, resigned for personal reasons.

Stockton Borough Council would not confirm whether the two incidents were linked, but a source at the school said it was believed pupils discovered, in lessons, how to bypass stringent filters which stopped them looking at inappropriate sites.

It is believed they then logged on to pornography sites using equipment in the neighbouring public library. When challenged, they said they had been shown how to bypass the filters at school.

A council spokesperson said: "Karen Robson resigned from 31st March and parents received a letter explaining that she did so because of personal and family reasons.

"There was an incident recently where children managed to access inappropriate websites and, following normal procedures, the matter was investigated and appropriate action taken to ensure this does not happen again.

"I can't say whether the incidents were linked."

The £12m school, which opened last September, is a long-awaited secondary school for Ingleby Barwick families, who previously had to send children to schools in Yarm and Eaglescliffe.

When the school - on Europe's largest housing estate - opened, Mrs Robson was unwell and the head of nearby Egglescliffe School helped out.

Only 120 pupils attend at present, but the school will take up to 600 eventually.

Newly-built Myton Park Primary School is part of the community campus, which incorporates the secondary school and a library for residents - where the pupils were discovered accessing inappropriate sites.

The schools were built on behalf of Stockton council and the Church of England Diocese of York by a consortium, though a private finance initiative.