A teachers' union has said it hopes to avoid action at a Kent school despite concerns over an 'assault' on a teacher there.

Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) were considering industrial action, including a ballot over refusal to teach the student or even a strike, at St Gregory’s Catholic School in Tunbridge Wells following the incident.

But after a meeting between bosses at the Reynolds Lane school and the union members yesterday, a spokesman for the union was hopeful that such action could be avoided.

A statement from the NUT said: "Members called on the NUT for support and were willing to be balloted for industrial action if the matter could not be resolved through negotiation.

"In discussions yesterday the school and the trust were keen to reassure the NUT and its members that they were taking the matter extremely seriously, further measures to be taken by the School were discussed, and next steps are being shared with staff at the school.

"The discussions were positive and will continue. It is hoped that the need for any industrial action can be avoided."

The alleged assault was reported to have happened on December 16, and is being investigated by police.

The age of the student and full details of the circumstances surrounding the assault have not been made public, but the NUT said teachers felt their safety and that of other students was being put at risk by not excluding the pupil.

The school told KentOnline the incident had been investigated, adding: "The school’s behaviour policy and exclusion procedures have been followed.

"We are mindful of our responsibility to continue to provide education for the student involved and we are considering a variety of options available that best supports the student and our staff.”

St Gregory's converted to an academy in 2014 and has 1,119 students, aged 11 to 18, on its roll.

It received an Outstanding rating during its last Ofsted inspection, before the conversion took place.