Thousands of children have been turned away from school on the first day of term as the government comes under increasing pressure to relax its guidelines on vetting new teachers.

Hundreds of schools in England and Wales are being hit by a backlog in the carrying out of checks by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

Trouble spots

2,000 students at seven schools in Derbyshire sent home Stockport: 1,500 pupils told to stay at home 1,250 pupils turned away from a comprehensive school in Pinner, north west London 173 pupils at a school in Porth, south Wales are off Gloucestershire - Unvetted teachers allowed to teach, but not one-to-one

Thousands of children were off school on Wednesday in the Midlands, the north west of England, Surrey and London.

About 7,000 teachers have yet to be cleared to work in schools, despite a Wednesday deadline for the completion of the checks.

The CRB said the "vast majority" of those could not be processed because their application forms contained errors.

Only a handful of schools are closed but many are having to turn children away.

Councils fear lessons could be disrupted until Christmas

Thousands of pupils at schools which went back earlier have already missed lessons or been sent home because of the backlog.

The delays in completing police checks at the CRB are also affecting social services departments.

As the effects of the backlog began to hit, some head teachers, local councils and childcare experts called for the government to relax its rules on the background checks.

In Stockport, where 1,500 pupils are off school, the local education authority has said it will defy government guidelines on Monday and allow unchecked teachers into class - provided they are supervised.

Officials want all children back to school on Monday.

In Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, schools have already been told to do this.

Trouble spots

Pupils at seven schools in Derbyshire have been sent home and 2,000 students are affected.

At Granville Community school in south Derbyshire, half of the school's staff are awaiting checks.

Haydon comprehensive school in Pinner, Hillingdon, has turned away 1,250 pupils - five year groups.

Head teacher Peter Woods is waiting for clearance on 26 members of staff out of a team of 98.

He told BBC News Online: "It's a ridiculous situation and the worst possible start to the year."

At Ysgol Gyfun Cymer Rhondda in Porth, south Wales, the 173 pupils in year eight were told to stay at home.