ANGRY teachers who claim to have been subjected to violent attacks by pupils at a special school protested at picket lines as they demanded increased protection by the local authority.

Union members at Lanchester School in Castle Bromwich claim they face daily verbal abuse and have been injured by pupils at the school, who are aged between 11 and 16 and have been removed from mainstream education.

The group voted in favour of strike action to highlight the issues, which they claim have escalated since previous procedures were changed under new leadership.

They say there have been 62 restraints at the school, run by Solihull Council, since September 2010 as a result of “actual or threatened risk of injury to a pupil or staff.”

One teacher, who did not wish to be named, said he had in the past been held by the throat, punched and kicked by pupils.

He said: “We are constantly threatened. I’ve suffered back injuries from being kicked.