PUPILS are awaiting the outcome of a weekend rat-catching operation to find out whether their summer holiday will start a week early.

Sightings of rats in the school grounds forced the closure of Seaham Comprehensive yesterday, as a pest control company was called in to flush out the offending rodents.

Rat poison has been laid at likely bolt holes, including sewers.

But the success of the operation will be assessed over the weekend, before a decision is made on whether to reopen the school on Monday - the start of the last week of the academic year.

It is the second time in two years that rat catchers have been hired at the east Durham school.

A similar rat scare in November 1998 led to its 1,060 pupils missing school for almost a week.

Although poisoning proved successful then, the school had to remain closed to allow pest controllers to remove the rotting rodent carcasses from inaccessible areas of the building.

Headteacher Bob Dingle said no rats had been sighted near children or inside the building, but the extent of the infestation remained unclear.

He said it was decided safest to close the school to allow pest controllers to assess the level of the problem.

"They have to do some tests to see if it's a one-off, or if rats have got inside classrooms and corridors.

"Depending on what the tests show we will be able to make a decision over the weekend, and if we need to do some very substantial baiting of the site and to the classrooms to be able to kill them off."

Mr Dingle advised parents and pupils to tune into local radio stations for an announcement on Monday morning over whether the school will be open or closed for the day.