PARENTS at a West Somerset school where a teacher is alleged to have put sticky tape over the mouths of a class of 10 and 11-year-olds to stop them talking are calling for her to be sacked.

They say Priscilla Davo should no longer be allowed to teach at Danesfield Middle 4School in Williton following the incident involving the year six pupils on Monday - the first working day that Danesfield and its two federated first schools gained academy status.

Ms Davo was suspended the following day after angry parents bombarded Ian Bradbury, executive headteacher of the newly formed Quantock Academy, with complaints.

A full investigation into the allegations is now underway, although it is not known when it will be concluded.

Spanish national Ms Davo, from the Granada area, had only joined the staff at the start of the year to teach her native language and art.

It is claimed that during an art lesson she forced the class of around 28 children to line up and put Sellotape over their mouths because they were being too noisy.

A number of children told their parents when they got home and one - Lisa Duffield - was so concerned that she drove straight back to school with her 11-year-old daughter Ella to see Mr Bradbury.

"I was absolutely horrified and livid," said Mrs Duffield. "There was a suggestion that it was a game but that was not a game - it's just disgusting."

Mrs Duffield said her daughter had told her that a few children had been "messing about a bit" and had been warned to keep quiet.

"It was about 15 minutes into the lesson. The next thing the whole class had been lined up and the teacher put Sellotape over all their mouths.

"They had to stay like that for about 45 minutes. Ella was really upset and she was worried about going to school because she didn't want to be taught by that teacher again.

"I hope she (the teacher) gets removed from the school."

Rob Lovell said that when his ten year-old daughter Erin took the Sellotape off at the end of the lesson, it made her lips bleed.

"It's just not acceptable," he said. "School should be a safe environment - this is a form of child abuse.

"If I did something like that, I'd have social services on my back."

Mr Lovell said he regarded the incident as a breach of trust: "Someone needs to seriously look at whether this teacher should be teaching."

Adam Knowles, whose 11-year-old son Ryan was in the class, said he thought someone was joking when he first heard what had happened: "But then I was really shocked - something like this should not happen. "This is just not acceptable."

Mr Knowles said the children had actually been involved in an activity, not sitting at their desks, when the incident happened.

"They were apparently working in pairs, with one child having their eyes closed and the other leading with their eyes open so they were moving around the classroom."

Mother of two Stacey Bradbury said she was concerned when she went in to see Mr Bradbury on Tuesday morning to be told the teacher would be teaching both her children that day.

"I wasn't happy about that and relieved to hear later that she had been suspended," said Stacey, whose ten-year-old son Thomas was in the class involved.

"My children were worried, wondering what she might do next," she said.

"It's a really serious thing and I was very shocked - no one can really believe it.

"It's a horrible and painful thing to do."

Mrs Bradbury said Danesfield was a good school and her children were progressing well.

"It is good and that is why it is such a shame. We have been assured that it is being taken seriously and that is reassuring.

"But I really think this teacher should resign or be sacked - she should not return to Danesfield."

Parents received a letter from Mr Bradbury on Tuesday assuring them that he regarded the incident as unacceptable.

"I can assure you that we take what has happened to be entirely wrong," he said. "It should not have happened."

Mr Bradbury also thanked parents for their trust in the school at what was a challenging time.

In a statement to the media he said: "We take all allegations concerning the well-being of our children very seriously.

"An incident happened which we are investigating thoroughly.

"A member of staff has been suspended whilst the investigation continues.

"My thanks to the numerous parents who have bought this matter to my personal attention and have given their on-going support to us in this challenging situation."

Although Ms Davo had only been employed at Danesfield for a couple of months, in June 2012 she spent a month at the school as a student teacher, when she described the pupils as "delightful".

The visit was the result of links between the school and Granada University, with Danesfield also partnered with a primary school in Granada and a secondary school in Motril.

Spanish is seen as one of Danesfield's strengths and Mr Bradbury is a keen exponent of the language and culture, with regular exchange visits taking place.

Photos: Steve Guscott/South West News