A YORK secondary school's swimming pool has been given the all-clear after being closed this morning following a chemical scare.

The emergency services arrived at the Archbishop Holgate's School site on Hull Road at about 8.45am after an "accidental mix" of two chemicals in its plant room led to a small amount of chlorine gas being released.

One member of staff in the plant room was taken to hospital for a check-up but has since been discharged unharmed, with the pool being evacuated while fire crews and specialist teams assessed the situation.

They have since confirmed there has been no contamination and the pool was able to reopen. The school has said it will be open as usual on Sunday for scheduled swimming sessions.

In a statement, John Hattam, chair of the school's governing body, said: "Following accidental contamination of a swimming pool dosing tank this morning, some chlorine gas was released into the atmosphere

"As a precaution, swimmers were evacuated from the pool. Emergency services attended very quickly and confirmed there had been no contamination of the pool water. They left at about 11.30am and the school would like to thank them for their prompt response.

"A member of staff was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure, but was subsequently discharged later this morning. The school has already reported the incident to the relevant authorities and will, of course, co-operate fully with any subsequent inquiry."

Group manager David Pitt of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the nature of the incident meant it had to be treated as a "worst that can happen" scenario, with three fire crews and two more specialist crews being called to the scene. 

Speaking earlier today, he said: "Crews have carried out a preliminary investigation and are assessing whether any of the plant room equipment has been damaged. They will remain at the scene until it can be determined that the plant room is safe."

Parents were allowed onto the site this morning to collect children who were already using the pool, which opens for Saturday swimming lessons, when the alarm was raised. Police and the fire service said there was no danger to the public but precautions had to be taken.

One parent, who did not want to be named, said: "We went to the school this morning for a swimming lesson, but were turned away by the police - we were told it was a precautionary measure and not something serious, although my son was a bit upset to miss his lesson."

* Have you been at Archbishop Holgate's School this morning? Phone The Press on 01904 567131, e-mail newsdesk@thepress.co.uk or tweet @yorkpress.