The headteacher of a Hertfordshire primary school says the cost of living in the London commuter belt is driving teachers away.

Peter Evans, head of Brookmans Park School, near Hatfield, blames rising house prices and low teachers' salaries for problems in recruiting new teachers to his school.

The extra �573 a year paid to teachers employed on the fringe of London is insufficient, he says, and the government should boost salaries considerably to make teaching a more desirable career choice.

In October, two teaching positions at Mr Evans' school became available, so he advertised for candidates both locally and nationally. There were only two applicants, only one of which was appointed.

Struggling to find a teacher for the second post, Mr Evans rang round friends and contacts to try to find someone, eventually managing to appoint a temporary teacher for one term. But he still needs to find a teacher fill the position permanently.

He said: "We're way up in the league tables, it's a relatively affluent area, and the children are well-motivated.

"But this is a double-edged sword. Houses here are extremely expensive, so most of our teachers live a long way out and have to travel. Even so, the cost of buying property in the surrounding areas is not cheap, and �573 a year doesn't really help much.

"House prices are going up, so to only make �573 available is nonsensical."

'Cliff-hanging'

In Brookmans Park itself, the cost of a semi-detached, four-bedroom house started at about �300,000, he said.

The average annual salary earned by teachers at his school, which has 320 pupils aged between four and 11, was about �21,000 including the extra fringe payment.

"It's been cliff-hanging trying to get somebody in front of the children, and although I managed to find someone to fill one of the positions temporarily, it still means that one class will have three different teachers this school year," he said.

Many schools in London are experiencing similar recruitment problems.

Teachers employed in inner London receive an extra �2,241 a year, while those working in outer London get an additional annual payment of �1,476.

But recent research commissioned by the Teacher Training Agency showed that rates of vacancies in the capital were three times higher than the national average.

It also revealed that many teachers were leaving the profession altogether.

Compensation

Mr Evans said there seemed to be a current trend for younger teachers to change careers, which would lead to a shortage of experienced staff in a few years' time.

Government incentives, such as the �5,000 "golden hellos" being offered to student teachers of shortage subjects, were not helping recruitment in the primary sector.

"Salaries really are beginning to be much more important than they used to be," said Mr Evans.

"Teaching is becoming less and less of a vocation and more and more of a craft. We're being told what we have to do - there's less professional judgment and choice involved.

"It's taken a lot of enjoyment out of doing the job. The government has got to compensate for this in some way, and it has to be through pay."