School shut after teacher death

A Cannock school was closed today after one of the teachers died in a car accident.

Chadsmoor Infant School was turning away parents as they arrived at the school gates to drop off their children.

A handwritten sign on the school railings said the school, in Kingsway, was closed.

Parents later received phone calls from the school asking them to break the tragic news to children.

The woman teacher, who has not yet been named, is thought to have died at around 1.15am on the A34 Cannock Road near the Pottal Pool roundabout.

The 38-year-old died when her silver Peugeot 206 left the road and collided with a telegraph pole just north of the roundabout.

The road was closed for five hours while police carried out investigations.

Murray MacGregor, a spokesman for the ambulance service, said: "The damage to the vehicle was severe and the woman had suffered very serious injuries. Unfortunately it was not possible to save her. She was confirmed dead at the scene."

Chris Churchill, aged 50, of Oakhill Road, Cannock, whose six-year-old daughter, Katie,attends the school, said: "Everyone is really shocked, it is really sad news and we just couldn't believe it. We had a phone call from the school to ask us to break the news to Katie."She was really upset and I think all the parents will be thinking of the teacher and her family.

"Our other daughter Sarah, who is 13 now, also used to go to the school and was taught by her so we had known her for a long time."

A spokesman for Staffordshire County Council confirmed the death today.

He said: "The school took the decision to close at 8am. Children and their parents have been fully informed.

"The school will re-open as normal tomorrow. Our thoughts and condolences are with the family."

Elsewhere three people were taken to hospital, one with serious injuries after a crash in Dudley last night.

Emergency service crews were called to Birmingham New Road in Coseley at 7.45pm. Two cars had collided.

One patient, a 31-year-old Bilston man had, serious facial injuries and a fractured wrist. Others were treated for minor injuries.

In Smethwick two women had to be cut from the wreckage of a car following a head-on collision with another car near to the junction of Foundry Lane and Woodburn Road at around 7.15pm on Saturday.

Four people were taken to hospital after a two-car crash in Walsall with one being flown to hospital. The crash happened outside Wolverhampton University Campus in The Broadway, at just after 8am on Saturday.

There were eight crashes across Staffordshire in just three hours in the wake of overnight snow.