THREE pupils have been suspended from a York secondary school after a 13-year-old boy was caught with cannabis.

The pupils all go to All Saints' RC School - the same school which last month expelled two teenage girls for taking Ecstasy tablets.

All three pupils have been suspended from school for 15 days pending further investigations and warned it could lead to a permanent exclusion.

Head teacher Bill Scriven said the school was determined to continue to take a tough line on drugs. He insisted it was an isolated incident and has written to parents to reassure them. The suspensions followed an incident in school last Wednesday when teachers were informed by a year nine student that the 13-year-old in the year below had brought some cannabis into school.

A spokesman for York Police said: "We responded to a report that a 13-year-old boy at All Saints' School had been caught with a small amount of cannabis.

"Investigations are on-going and we have been working in close conjunction with the school."

Mr Scriven said: "The governors and I are determined to respond robustly to any incidents of substance abuse in our school. A second drug related incident so close to the recent one will naturally raise worries and concerns.

"I am angered and upset by this incident. This feeling is shared by all the staff and indeed the pupils.

"A few individuals have sadly behaved in an appalling manner. The whole community is determined that such behaviour will not be tolerated and cannot be a part of All Saints' School."

A parent, who did not want to be named, said: "I'm very surprised there's been a second incident so close to the first, but I'm reassured that the school is obviously very much on the look-out for drugs following the previous incidents.

"I hope the school continues to take a tough line on drugs and that the pupils take heed because it is an excellent school."

All Saints' caters for 1,102 pupils on a split site at Nunnery Lane and Mill Mount.

Two teenage girls were arrested and excluded from the school after taking Ecstasy tablets on March 21, but one was subsequently allowed back following a governor's disciplinary hearing.

The girls in Year 9 were taken home from school and arrested following an incident during school assembly.

Both girls, who are 13 or 14 years old, became distressed and started crying before being escorted out of the room, and their fellow pupils told teachers they thought they had been taking drugs.

One of the girls admitted straight away that she had taken pills, and a search of her locker turned up five tablets. The school called both girls' parents and the police.

Updated: 08:24 Monday, May 29, 2006