A DINNER lady fears she is about to lose her job for blowing the whistle on school bullies.

Carol Hill was suspended from Great Tey Primary School after she told Scott and Claire David their daughter, Chloe, had been tied up and whipped with a skipping rope.

She was brought before a disciplinary hearing at at Sir Charles Lucas Arts College, Colchester, on Friday, at which headteacher Debbie Crabb is thought to have recommended the board of governors to sack her.

After the hearing, Mrs Hill was told she would have to wait until today, Monday, to hear the outcome.

But the dinner lady’s friends and supporters say the process was unfair. Having been told she could bring her own witnesses before the panel and ask questions, in the even she was not allowed to do either.

Following the closed hearing, Mr David, of Colchester Road, Chappel, father of the girl at the centre of the row, said: “I was called as a witness and then not allowed to have my say.

“It just doesn’t seem fair she has spent all this time preparing a case, only to find none of it could be used.

“We will be standing by Carol, no matter what happens.”

The father-of-four said he had eventually seen a copy of the health and safety report filled out by the school following the incident involving Chloe.

He said the report proved he and his wife had not been told the full story.

Ivan Dyer, who has five children at the school, said they believed protocol had not been followed properly.

He said: “We have known Carol for 31 years, but it is not as a friend we have come here today, but as parents.

“I cannot believe we are where we are today. It’s almost surreal. Anybody would look at this and realise it should have been someone outside the school looking at this and making a decision.”

Mrs Hill was suspended from the school, in Chrismund Way, after the incident, in June.

The school acted after discovering the dinner lady had spoken about the incident with Chloe’s parents when they met at the local Beaver group meeting.

They had been keen to learn more after an official letter from the school said only that Chloe had been hurt by some other children.

The Davids have since taken Chloe and her younger brother out of the school.

Headteacher Mrs Crabb, was not available for comment after the hearing.