Parents at a secondary school that has been placed in special measures have met senior staff and governors to express their concerns.

As reported in yesterday's Leicester Mercury, Burleigh Community College, in Loughborough, has failed its latest Ofsted inspection.

Inspectors judged the school as failing to provide its 1,300 pupils with an acceptable standard of education.

They criticised its GSCE results in maths and English and said its health and safety policies were not kept up to date.

Last night, about 60 parents from Burleigh and its feeder schools spent two-and-a-half hours questioning governors and staff on the results of the Ofsted inspection.

The Mercury was told it could not attend the meeting but was invited to speak to parents afterwards.

David Wenham's son, Martin, a pupil at Loughborough's Woodbrook Vale High School, is due to start at Burleigh in September.

He said: "It's a worry knowing your son may be going to school that's said to be failing. The spin that has been put on it is that this has happened because of a change in the way the inspections are done but there is a lot of scepticism."

Susan Cunningham has a 14-year-old son at Burleigh.

She said: "I'm a primary school teacher so I know how difficult the Ofsted process can be. The fear is that now the school is in special measures it will be hard for them to keep hold of their good staff."

The school has two years to get out of special measures. If it fails, it could be closed or merged with a more successful school. Executive principal John Smith said: "A lot of parents have been positive and we have started turning things round."