Governors at a primary school rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted have been removed after council officers felt they were not holding leaders to account.

Ofsted inspectors found that Old Buckenham Community Primary School was inadequate during a visit in February.

During a subsequent monitoring report, released last month, inspectors said improvements had been made but governors had been 'slow to respond' to recommendations and were not 'holding school leaders fully to account for the necessary improvements'.

It meant that the school's recovery remained 'fragile', they said.

Today, Norfolk County Council confirmed an application had been sent to the Secretary of State to remove the governors and that an interim executive board (IEB) was now in place.

Gordon Boyd, assistant director for education in the council's Children's Services team, said: 'We want all children in Norfolk to receive an excellent education and that means challenging schools of concern and, if necessary, intervening to ensure that they make the rapid progress that is needed for their pupils.

'Ofsted has judged that Old Buckenham Primary School is an inadequate school, with ineffective governance and we are not confident that the current governing body can quickly support the improvement that the school needs.'

He said it is the council's view that an IEB is necessary to 'support further improvement at the school'.

The school governors have been notified and the chair of the IEB will be writing to parents.

The school has replaced its web page about its Governors with the message 'this page will be updated shortly'.