CALLS have been made for school fire alarms to be modernised after a deaf Aberystwyth secondary school pupil was left inside the building during a fire drill.

Hafwen Clarke, 12, a profoundly deaf pupil, was left inside the Penglais School toilets unaware that a fire drill was taking place because she could not hear the alarm, her father has told the Cambrian News this week.

And John Clarke, who said his daughter was left “scared” and “shaken up” by the episode, is calling for modern fire alarms to replace “outdated” systems at Penglais and other schools in Ceredigion.

“I am a little bit cheesed off. My daughter was in the toilet for the fire drill. She didn’t hear the alarm and was unaccounted for,” said Mr Clarke, a taxi driver. from Bow Street.

“One of the teachers had to go back in. The teacher would have had to put their life on the line to go back in if it was a real fire.

“Hafwen felt scared. She was a bit shaken up by it.

“The school has no modern fire safety system. There are other deaf children at the school too.

“Ideally, the fire alarm system needs to be updated. After recent events in London, it is very troubling.”

The county council is arranging an emergency meeting between Hafwen’s parents and the school’s governors to discuss concerns.

See this week’s Aberystwyth edition for the full story, in shops and online now