WORRIED students at The John of Gaunt School have handed teachers a 180-name petition calling for a locked gate to be opened so they can travel to lessons in safety.

Sixth formers at the Wingfield Road school told the Wiltshire Times last week they were furious with teachers for not telling them about a sex attack in an alleyway outside the school gates.

The teenagers, who said they are forced to travel to lessons between Clarendon and John of Gaunt through a narrow alley, linking Pitman Avenue to Gloucester Road, are calling for the school's rear gate to be unlocked.

Their pleas followed a sex attack on a 17-year-old girl, in which the victim was pinned to a fence and indecently assaulted.

Acting headteacher Lyn Sharpe told us last week she would weigh up the safety of pupils in deciding whether to open the gate.

Mrs Sharpe said she locked the gate leading directly into Pitman Avenue to stop intruders getting onto the school field.

One sixth former said she was waiting to hear back from teachers for a response to the petition.

"We have handed it over to the headteacher's secretary. We managed to get 180-names in two days," she said.

"We are still waiting for a decision. I think it is time they called a meeting to tell us what they plan to do.

"At the moment we are still using the alleyway."

Last week A-level students told us they would not travel to lessons between the two schools if they had to walk along the alleyway alone.

Clarendon headteacher Colin Kay said pupils would not miss lessons by ensuring no-one has to put their safety at risk.