Underley Hall School child sex abuse inquiry to be reviewed Published duration 2 October 2014

image caption Richard Rhodes said former pupils at the school had raised questions about a previous police investigation into abuse there

An inquiry into claims of historical child abuse at a school in Cumbria is to be reviewed, the area's police and crime commissioner (PCC) has said.

Richard Rhodes said former pupils at Underley Hall School in Kirkby Lonsdale had raised questions about an investigation carried out in 1996-97.

Mr Rhodes said he and Cumbria's chief constable had ordered an internal review.

The claims are of sexual and physical abuse between the 1970s and the 1990s.

New investigation

Underley Hall School was a private boarding school, which closed in 2012 after being judged "inadequate" by Ofsted.

The review will examine the standard of the 1990s investigation and ask whether there were any "misconduct issues", Mr Rhodes said.

He said it would probably take at least a month to complete and would be carried out by a detective chief inspector from the Cumbria force.

Police began looking into allegations of abuse at the school again in August as part of a wider investigation into residential schools across Cumbria.

"I would urge anyone, victims or witnesses, to come forward and help the police with their current investigation," Mr Rhodes said.