A number of County Durham primary schools will remain closed after the Christmas break over coronavirus fears.

Rebecca Woods, headteacher of Delves Lane Primary School, in Consett, has told parents the school will remain closed to all pupils on January 4.

Writing on social media, Ms Woods said: “I am sure you will have seen in the news that there are major concerns about schools opening to all pupils from tomorrow.

“At Delves Lane Primary School, we have made the very difficult decision to close to all pupils for tomorrow - Monday, January 4.

“I do understand that this will cause some disruption to families, and I can only apologise.

“We must protect the health and safety of our whole school community.

"We will be in touch tomorrow to share our plans on how school will open safely as soon as possible. I would like to thank everyone for your support.”

Lanchester EP, Newker Primary School in Chester-le-Street, are all closed and Bowburn Primary School moves to remote learning from apart from children of key workers and vulnerable children.

Jackie Glass, headteacher at Bowburn, said: "I understand that this is regrettable situation, and I do not want to disrupt your children’s education any more than it has been already. As your child’s headteacher I keenly feel that the best place for children to be is in school. But at all times my overriding consideration has to be the health and safety of pupils, their families and the wider community.”

Fishburn Primary School will remain closed, with staff contacting families of key workers and vulnerable children so they can return on Tuesday.

A statement on the school's Facebook page stated: "Senior leaders have worked incredibly hard all weekend to try and find a way in which we could safely staff our school for your children to return to us and at the moment this just can not be done."

St Helen’s Primary in Bishop Auckland also contacted parents to confirm that it will be closed.

King James I Academy, in Bishop Auckland, told parents that the academy will be closed for a further week to all students except the children of critical workers and those students identified as vulnerable by the local authority.

Other schools remaing closed are The Grove Primary School, Consett; Seaham Trinity Primary School and Cotsforth Primary School, Peterlee.

Please check your school's website or Facebook page for other closures.