More than 100 pupils at a comprehensive school are at home for three days this week because of lack of staff, it emerged last night.

However, staff sickness, not teacher shortages, was to blame, said the headteacher and the Labour-run local education authority.

Parents of 110 pupils aged 12 and 13, at Brackenhoe School, in Middlesbrough, have been asked to keep them away for the first three days of this week, but they will be able to return tomorrow, as temporary cover has been found.

Headteacher Martyn Berry praised the Department for Education and Employment for helping him to find three supply teachers to cover until the permanent staff are well enough to return.

"I hope parents will understand that we have taken this decision only after a great deal of thought and as a response to extraordinary circumstances," he said.

A Middlesbrough Borough Council spokesman said the education authority was "not immune" from teacher shortages but was not suffering as much as other parts of England.

An education department spokesman said: "We've been able to work collaboratively to bring the timetable back to normal for these children after only three days."

But the Conservatives said the fact that staff cover was not available immediately proved there was no slack in an over-stretched system.