A SCHOOL governor claims he received death threats after he criticised a North Yorkshire school.

Dave Parratt, who has quit as a parent governor at Pannal County Primary School in Harrogate, said he received a threatening phone call from someone saying: "You are a dead man."

He said he also received a letter saying: "Watch your back". He did not know who had made the threats.

Police have investigated the matter but have been unable to determine who made them.

In a separate development, Mr Parratt claims his children were also threatened with exclusion from the school because of his complaints, and he eventually removed them from the school. Mr Parratt said in a letter to parents - explaining his decision to resign - that he had raised various concerns with the school head teacher and governing body during his time as a governor.

He said an Ofsted report in 1996 had called on the school to further develop the awareness and understanding of pupils to enable them to live in an increasingly multicultural society.

Harrogate police said Mr Parratt had complained of a telephone call and then a letter last November.

The matter had been investigated but no-one had been arrested.

The chairman of governors at the school, Lawrie McWilliams, said: "All of Mr Parratt's concerns have been fully investigated, by a combination of independent governors, the local education authority, the welfare department, and the social services department, depending on the nature of his comments. All of those independent and responsible bodies have constantly come back and said there is not a problem here."

He added: "All those concerns have been investigated and found to be without substance."

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