A TRADE union has called for the Catholic Church to step in at a troubled primary school.

GMB, which represents school support staff, has asked Bishop of Clifton Declan Lang to intervene at Christ the King in Amesbury amid concerns about headteacher Jerome McCormack’s leadership style.

Parents and staff, past and present, have contacted the union and the Journal with concerns about how the school has been run since Mr McCormack took over in 2012.

The situation escalated when a foam fire extinguisher went off in a teaching assistant’s face during a fire safety demonstration in May.

The incident, which involved a “significantly sized fire that was deliberately started in the school playground”, prompted an internal misconduct investigation into Mr McCormack. The police are also investigating.

The union has called for the head to be suspended “so staff will feel free to speak freely”.

He is employed by the board of governors, which is currently without a chairman.

Carole Vallelly from the union said: “The school is in crisis and has no effective governance.”

The Catholic Diocese appoints governors, and the union wants the bishop to step in as the school is “failing to provide a safe environment for staff and children.”

Staff previously discussed concerns with the bishop, but the union says the diocese failed to effectively intervene.

Ms Vallelly said: “GMB believes that the buck stops with the Catholic Diocese.”

In a statement, Clifton Diocese said it was “working with the appropriate bodies within the confines of an ongoing investigation” and it was “not appropriate to comment on, or become actively involved in any investigation ... as this may prejudice this process.”

It said a new chairman of governors would be in post “shortly”.

Mr McCormack has not responded to requests for comment.