Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

School sealed off to protect pupils from dangerous ticks

Murthly Primary School
Murthly Primary School

A rural Perthshire school has been forced to shut down part of its grounds after an apparent infestation of tiny ticks.

Parents demanded action to protect Murthly Primary pupils from potentially deadly lyme disease after at least one youngster came home covered in bites.

The school has now agreed to block off an area leading to neighbouring woodland.

Letters have been sent home to mums and dads, warning them to be extra vigilant.

It is believed the ticks are coming from an unusually high number of deer in the surrounding woods.

One local woman, who asked not be named, said her granddaughter returned from lessons “covered by tick bites”.

“They look like raised beauty spots on the skin,” she said.

There are worries, she said, that the ticks could be infected with lyme disease.

The small spider-like creatures are known to spread the bacterial infection through their bites. If not treated swiftly, the disease can have lasting effects and is potentially fatal.

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesman said: “Access to a neighbouring woodland area behind Murthly Primary School was closed due to concerns raised regarding children coming into contact with ticks.

“Pupils can continue to play in the school’s playground at break-times, and nursery children can continue to play in the nursery garden,” he said.

“The school sent an email to parents on Tuesday to advise them there were ticks in the vicinity of the playground and to ask that they be vigilant in checking their children for ticks.”

The school’s swift action was praised by local councillor Grant Laing.

He said: “I think the school has done the right thing in taking this sensible precautionary decision.

“When you are out and about walking in the countryside when ticks are prevalent it is advisable for people to be well clothed.”

He added: “Children in school uniform would be more susceptible with bare skin for ticks to attach themselves.”

Mr Laing said he was aware there were deer within the area of the school which are hosts to ticks and said the problem was particularly bad this year.