General Election candidates stepped into the controversial issue of the safety of schoolchildren following the discovery of Second World War bombs and ammunition at Chilton.

Labour Parliamentary candidate Stephen Beer was canvassing at the gates of Chilton Primary School, near Didcot, as part of a tour of schools in the Wantage constituency. He was confronted by worried parents after three incidents when bombs and ammunition were unearthed during the massive clean-up of a toxic waste dump formerly used by Harwell Laboratory.

Stephen Beer talks to Tracy Miles outside the school

Twice within three weeks the school school site has been evacuated, including half-term when headteacher Christine Dunsdon and contractors who had begun work on a new primary school school were led away from the school which is next to the waste pits.

More than 100 pupils were evacuated to the restaurant at nearby Rutherford Appleton Laboratory when the shell of a 500kg Second World War German bomb was discovered. And, on Wednesday last week, bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion after an anti-tank mine was unearthed.

Mother-of-three Tracy Miles of South Row, Chilton, echoed the views of environmental campaigners who have said that the school should be closed and the children moved elsewhere until the £5m clean-up of the waste pits by the Atomic Energy Authority was completed.

"It does bother me," said Mrs Miles. "You don't expect to take your children to school in the mornings and hear that they have been evacuated before you collect them in the afternoon."

In a statement, Mr Beer said: "I have been increasingly concerned with reports I have received concerning the safety of the children at Chilton School."

The Oxford Mail has also called for the school to be permanently evacuated while the work on the clean-up of the waste pits is completed, and Mr Beer said the newspaper "is right to be worried about the potential danger to people in the school".

He added: "There is an undeniable case for a public debate on whether the school should be closed until the site is cleared.

"I have written to the UKAEA requesting a meeting as soon as possible to discuss the matter."

But Wantage MP Robert Jackson - a former Tory science minister - who visited the waste pits site earlier this year, said: "I think we need to keep a sense of proportion." He criticised Mr Beer "for jumping in and inflaming the fears of parents".

Colin Hills, chairman of the school governors, attempted to reassure parents and the public, describing all three incidents as "relatively insignificant".

He said: "We are reassured by the UKAEA that it is still safe for the school to be sited here along with the pupils."