A Westcliff headteacher says she has "no option but to close the school" as she claims new Southend Council parking zones are set to stop teachers getting to work.

Allison Moise-Dixon, headteacher of St Bernard's School, wrote to parents about the planned closure of the school on Monday.

She says large numbers of school staff would not be able to get to work meaning the "school simply could not function without these staff on site".

It has previously been warned that staff use nearby roads to park during the day because the school does not have a car park. 

Moise-Dixon is urging the council to talk with her to find a solution because the new restrictions would represent a "detrimental impact" on staff. 

The school has about 966 students. 

In the letter to parents, she said: "A member of staff shared with me on Tuesday that posters had been put up by the council in the local area to say that parking restrictions would be coming into force from Monday.

"I immediately contacted the council to await an urgent response given the detrimental impact that this will have on the school given that of our 120 staff, made up of teachers and support staff such as LSAs, catering staff, cleaning staff, premises staff, 40-65 school staff park on the local roads in order to work here at the school.

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"The school simply could not function without these staff on site. I totally understand that residents in the area wish to have parking near their homes and respect this right.

"As headteacher, I have a duty of care to the students and staff of the school. Understandably over the last couple of days, staff have been worried and upset at the position in which they have been placed through no fault of their own with virtually no notice.

"Therefore, I have no option but to close the school on Monday 7 November to allow the school an opportunity to fully risk assess how we can continue to provide an efficient education to the children without compromising their health, safety or educational entitlement.

"This is extremely disruptive to the students, staff and to you but with such little notice, it is not possible to fully risk assess or come up with an appropriate plan of how we can support our staff to minimise the impact of this with such little notice or support. If the council do contact me to find an alternative solution, I will let you know as soon as possible."

Southend Council has been contacted for comment.