AN investigation into allegations that a school used a Victorian restraint on a child is nearing completion.

The eight-year-old boy was said to have had his fingers clamped to two wooden blocks and had his hands tied behind his back to stop him fidgeting.

The blocks were on loan from an historical archive to Sherburn Hill Junior and Infant School, in Sherburn, Durham, as part of a demonstration about life in 19th-Century classrooms.

It is said the boy, who had snapped a pencil in class, was put under restraint with the blocks three times in a day.

At one point it is said he was left in the headteacher's office during morning, lunch and afternoon break with his fingers in the blocks.

The boy's stepfather, Scott Meikle, 36, from Haswell Plough, east Durham, called the police, who interviewed the boy and his seven-year-old sister, who is in the same class.

Durham Police have yet to establish whether a criminal offence has been committed.

A Durham County Council spokesman said: "We do not yet have any indications of whether any action will be taken. But the investigation is nearing the end."