A primary school in Tottenham is under investigation after parents complained their children had been physically restrained without their knowledge.

Harris Primary Academy Coleraine Park, in Glendish Road, has come under fire after footage revealed members of staff had used force to restrain children.

Haringey Borough Council has launched an investigation into the incidents but the school claims the use of restraint is "very rare, but sometimes necessary".

Footage, which was filmed in July by a former staff member, appears to show a pupil being restrained in the playground by three members of staff and on another occasion a child being led along a corridor by two people.

A spokesman for the school said: "The use of restraint is very rare, but sometimes necessary for pupils with serious behavioural issues.

“It is only ever used if they are posing an immediate physical danger to themselves or to other children.”

The school insisted that all staff involved in the incidents had been trained in how to safely restrain pupils in line with government guidelines.

It added: “Just as a parent would want to be reassured that restraint is only used when necessary, they would equally want to know that their child would be kept safe from another pupil's violent outburst.

"We believe all young children can learn to behave well so it is our policy not to permanently exclude primary school pupils.

“Therefore, as was the case with these incidents, preventing them from hurting other children means they have a second chance to stay in mainstream education and thrive."

The Department of Education advises that reasonable force can be used to prevent pupils from hurting themselves or others. It also advised that it is good practice for schools to speak to parents and to consider how to record serious incidents.

A Haringey Council spokesman said: "As would be expected, once we received and reviewed the footage we acted in line with best practice by making Ofsted and the police aware of it.

"We are now conducting our own investigation and will work with the academy, as we would with any Haringey school, to ensure that the welfare of pupils is being managed appropriately."

Parents of the children who were restrained have called for Ofsted to investigate the school however the education watchdog said it has no plans to do so.

In a statement, Ofsted said: "As a new academy, the school will be inspected in due course in accordance with our inspection selection policy, which is available on our website.

"It would be inappropriate to comment about any specific complaints as the outcomes of complaints investigations can be taken forward to the school's next inspection."