FENCING is set to be installed at a Somerset infant school to protect pupils – and to stop them being able to “escape the site”.

Somerset Council has applied for permission to install 3m-high fencing around parts of Bowlish Infant School, in Wells Road, Shepton Mallet.

If approved, the plans would see ‘V-profile’ security fencing installed along a “section of the front boundary at the school”.

“The school has experienced a rise in unauthorised access into the site and has growing concerns about how easy this access currently is,” the application said. “It is also a weak point for children to escape the site.

“The school is located on a busy road with a blind bend and so are increasingly worried about the risks posed to the children should they be able to leave the site.

“The ground levels are also very different between one side of the existing wall and the other. The roadside of the wall is only 1.25m high in places, making it very easy to get onto the wall and climb into the school.”

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It is hoped the new fencing will prevent people accessing the school site, as well as preventing young people from leaving, when not authorised.

“If planning permission is granted, the school would be a safer and more secure environment, reducing unauthorised access and the probability of children absconding from the site,” the application added.

The scheme will now be considered by council planning officers. For more details, and to comment on the plans, log on to somerset.gov.uk and search application reference 2024/2240/FUL.