HEADTEACHERS say that schools in South Buckinghamshire are at breaking point amid a shortage of teachers.

The problem particularly affects primary schools and as the Free Press went to press, the issue was top of the agenda at a meeting of primary school heads in the area.

The regular meeting of school heads in the area was being held at Disraeli Combined School yesterday and the Free Press has learned that recruitment of teachers in the area dominates the agenda.

One headteacher said: "I have been a head for ten years. I have not found the situation as bad as this but maybe I have just been fortunate."

Another headteacher said he thought the problem had been exacerbated by staff in some schools in South Bucks being eligible for a London weighting to their salaries while staff in another school, just a few miles away, did not qualify.

Headteachers believe teachers are being priced out of the area by high house prices.

In April, the Bucks education chief, David McGahey, said: "We are working hard to attract people into the county from teacher training courses and we are looking to encourage people who were teachers but are no more, to come back into teaching."