A HEADTEACHER suspended amid concerns over his leadership of a Bolton primary school has quit his job.

Chris Marston has resigned as head of Breightmet's Crompton Fold Primary School which was heavily criticised in an Ofsted report last year.

He had been suspended since December pending an investigation into his leadership of the school.

But with mystery surrounding his sudden resignation last night Mr Marston, who was headteacher for two years, refused to explain why he has walked away from his job when the BEN contacted him at his Rossendale home.

But in a Bolton Council statement he said he had quit the school to "pursue other career ambitions."

The statement added he had "gained great pleasure from seeing the children achieve at significantly higher standards than ever before."

He also thanked the school's governors, staff, parents and the local education authority for their part in the "rapid progress" which had been made.

And he also thanked his fellow Bolton headteachers for their "support and congeniality."

A council spokesman added: "The governors and the authority wish to thank Mr Marston for his dedicated service and wish him well in his future career."

Mr Marston was suspended from the Poulton Avenue school after an investigation was launched into concerns raised in an April 2000 Ofsted report. It accused Mr Marston of failing to tackle unsatisfactory teaching and curriculum weakness and inspectors said the school gave poor value for money.

It also said there was poor communication between the head and his staff as well as a loss of confidence in Mr Marston.

Some parents started a petition calling on Mr Marston to be replaced, but the head insisted at the time: "I don't think there's a problem there at all."

He added that the report was unbalanced and failed to recognise improvements the school had made.

Crompton Fold Primary School has been in the news before, notably when it became the first and only primary to opt out of local authority control under the former Conservative government.

Deputy head Diane O'Brien, who was appointed acting head in Mr Marston's absence, said the position would now be advertised and a replacement would be sought.

But she said as far as the school was concerned and the children's education it was business as usual.

"I cannot say what the reaction to Mr Marston's resignation has been because each person will have their own reaction," she said. "But personally I have been at the school since September as deputy head and have been very happy here.

"The staff have been very supportive and we have a good working relationship between the governors and the parents. We are now looking towards the future and doing our best for the pupils."

Breightmet ward councillor John Byrne added: "We have had little involvement with the school but we know they had a bad Ofsted report.

"You have to look to the future and hope that the school goes from strength to strength."

News of Mr Marston's resignation was met with an air of indifference by parents taking their children to Crompton Fold earlier today.

Many parents said they has no strong opinions either way on his decision to quit with one parent saying "we didn't really know him very well. He didn't seem to get involved very much".

But parent Lisa Kirk, who has two children at the school, described the outgoing head as a "nice man".

She said: "I have no idea why he is leaving but I hope they sort a replacement head out soon."