PUPILS at a Renfrewshire school were left out in the cold following a major plumbing problem.

A failure of the heating system left pupils at Gryffe High, in Houston, without any hot water for much of last week.

Renfrewshire Council engineers were only able to begin fixing the problem on Monday after they sourced the necessary parts.

Despite the water temperature issue, the school remained open as normal.

This angered one parent, who contacted The Gazette to express concern that children were left without hot water at a time when the coronavirus pandemic means it is important they are able to wash their hands.

“Gryffe High had no hot water from last Wednesday, which meant more than 1,000 people were unable to wash their hands with hot, soapy water, as per the current government guidelines,” said the parent, who asked to remain anonymous.

“Despite this, the school remained open, placing pupils, staff and the wider community at significant risk. Surely, in the current climate, this is a health and safety emergency?”

However council chiefs said there was no risk to the health of pupils or teachers, with extra measures being put in place to compensate for the lack of hot water.

A spokesman added: “There was an issue with the hot water heating system at the school, however this has now been fixed.

“The repair required parts to be delivered. These arrived over the weekend and council engineers made the repairs on Monday.

“The school provided extra hand sanitiser to allow effective hand washing to continue and a portable hand washing unit was delivered to the school kitchen.

“Our health and safety teams assessed the arrangements at the school and were happy hygiene controls were being maintained while the repair was finished.”