PUPILS returned to a Test Valley school this week for the first time since the Christmas holiday break.

Bad weather and problems with water supplies led to the extended closure of West Tytherley Primary School on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border last week, but it was back to the classrooms for pupils on Monday.

However, parents had to walk or drive them to school because Wilts and Dorset suspended buses in the area due to icy road conditions.

Speaking on Monday headteacher Christine Kirby said: “We are glad to be open again. The children are pleased to be back at school and have been building snowmen in the grounds.

“Over half our children come by bus and they have been car-sharing or walked here today because Wilts and Dorset no 36 services have been suspended.”

Mrs Kirby said that problems with water supplies due to frozen pipes still hadn’t been fully resolved but plumbers were working on it.

The school’s toilets were out of action because there wasn’t any cold water to flush the loos.