A senior member of staff has been suspended at one of Britain's top ballet schools which is facing allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards students.
Ballet West in Argyll has confirmed it has launched a probe into allegations towards a member of staff of inappropriate behaviour.
More than 60 women told ITV News that the staff member acted inappropriately towards them.
The school's Board of Trustees has confirmed they have asked a leading Scots lawyer to lead an independent, external inquiry into the allegations.
READ MORE: Ballet school 'senior member of staff' facing sexual misconduct inquiry
In a statement released on Friday, the board said: “Dr Kirsty Hood, QC, has been asked to lead an independent, external inquiry into allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards students at the school by a member of staff. Further details of the inquiry will be announced in due course.
“In light of allegations that have emerged this week, the board has now suspended a senior member of staff, pending the external investigation.
“Parents or students requiring information about the current term can contact the school on 01866 822641 or by email on admissions@balletwest.co.uk.
“The board would like to thank the many parents and students who have contacted Ballet West expressing their support for the school at this difficult time.
READ MORE: Scots ballet school vice principal resigns amidst sexual misconduct allegations
"The board takes the welfare of students extremely seriously and is determined that these matters are dealt with thoroughly.”
Ballet West announced its vice-principal had resigned from his post on Thursday, with a solicitor for the teacher saying his client “refutes the allegations in the strongest terms”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article