PARENT power, staff determination and heavy machinery made sure the John Masefield High School could re-open on Wednesday, after it was closed for two days because of the snow.

On Tuesday, the school put in an urgent email appeal to parents, asking for help to clear car parks and paths in a bid to get the school open the following day.

And the call was answered in spades, with both a tractor and a JCB arriving on site, much to the gratitude of staff and pupils alike.

The school's business manager, Wendy Bradbeer said:

"It was a combined effort to clear the site on Tuesday afternoon to ensure students and staff would be able to return to the John Masefield High School on Wednesday.

"Rachel Potter organised for Ben Blandford from Temple Court Farm in Ledbury to provide us with a tractor and Carl Barnes gave up his day off to work on the site.

"Our site staff of Leon French and Paul Archer were joined by our Head Boy, Headteacher, Deputy Head and other staff and parents who all worked together to clear the footpaths, steps and main walkways at the school. This was truly a community effort for our community school."

An online message to parents added: "Following excellent work from our site team, assisted by about a dozen volunteers and a very kind parent who used his JCB to clear the car park, we are pleased to announce that the could open for all pupils who can safely make it into school on Wednesday."

The school stressed that any pupils still not able to get in, because of the icy conditions, would not get into trouble.

At least 17cms of snow fell on Ledbury on Sunday, the heaviest local snow storm for four years.