A SECONDARY school near Taunton has received reports of students' "dangerous and anti-social behaviour".

The leadership team at Heathfield Community School have written to parents and carers asking them to speak to their children about their actions in the village of Ham, near Creech St Michael.

A number of people living in Ham, which is in the Heathfield catchment area, contacted the school to report young people taking risks by jumping into the water and also "behaving inappropriately towards residents and their property".

In a letter to parents and carers, the leadership team said: "We have had reports of dangerous and anti-social behaviour by school age young people in the Ham village area.

"We are concerned that students may be taking risks jumping into the water and want to alert you to the potentially serious consequences of this activity.

"You may have heard on the national news of people trying to cool off by accessing waterways and then experiencing difficulty and in some tragic cases fatalities have occurred.

"The local residents have also reported to schools that some young people are behaving inappropriately towards residents and their property."

The team added: "We ask parents to please reiterate to students the importance of taking care near waterways for their own safety and to report to school any instances of inappropriate behaviour by students of our school.

"We will work with other schools and neighbourhood policing teams in the area to share any information we have regarding each other's students."

Heathfield headteacher Peter Hoare announced last week that he is retiring at the end of this term due to his deteriorating health.

READ MORE: Headteacher announces his retirement.