A SCHOOL trip to Belgium and France has been postponed amid fears of a terrorist attack.

Forty-two pupils and five staff from Chipping Sodbury School were due to travel to Lille in France and Ypres in Belgium next Friday, December 4 for a two-day visit.

The Year 8, 9 and 10 students were attending the Menin Gate ceremony where the school had a poppy wreath to lay, and then on to Lille’s Christmas markets and visit a waffle factory.

But the school has today announced it is postponing the trip following the attacks in Paris and the ongoing security concerns in France and Belgium, where a number of the attackers are known to have come from.

In a letter to parents, head teacher Gareth Millington said the school had been reviewing the situation since the terror attacks in Paris on November 13.

“We have been reviewing the most recent travel guidance provided by both the UK government and the French and Belgian authorities,” he said.

“Although the areas of specific concern are centred around Paris and Brussels, the increased level of security risk in both countries have led us to postpone the trip. The safety of students and staff is of paramount importance.”

He said the school was working with travel companies to reschedule the trip in February and was working on a revised itinerary which would still allow students to experience aspects of the language, culture and history.

One parent, whose son was going on the trip, said: “I think the school has made the right decision.

“I was a bit worried about it, that's my boy after all, but at the same time I felt that disruption of things like this is giving the terrorists exactly what they want. If it was me going, I'd still go, but my kids are something different.”