HOMOPHOBIC abuse and attacks in Lancashire’s schools is a ‘serious’ issue that ‘demands’ action, according to teachers.

A new report has been released by the Lancashire division National Union of Teachers, NUT, which quizzed its members about homophobia in schools.

According to the results, 92 per cent of the county’s teachers believed action was needed in schools to tackle the issue.

It also found that, 43 per cent of teachers heard homophobic abuse on a daily or weekly basis — a drop from 56 per cent in 2009 when the last survey was carried out.

Although 72 per cent of staff, compared to 46 per cent in 2009, said that their school was working hard to tackle homophobia, staff had gained confidence in challenging children about the issue in classroom.

Unions said despite the improvements unions said more need to be done and is calling for teacher training in the area.

Sam Uddin, Lancashire NUT’s new division secretary, said: “Progress has been achieved since the first report – but there are still too many pressures on both students and staff for us to just stand by and do nothing”.

Avis Gilmore, NUT NW Regional Secretary said: “It is good news that the situation is showing improvement but the results highlight the need for more work to be done in this very important area.”

Amelia Lee, strategic lead, LGBT, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, Youth North West, said: “Young people are literally dying from our lack of action — suffering from attacks by their fellow pupils up to suicide due to the levels of bullying and isolation they face.

“This report shows that we are starting to make that progress, but change takes time and resources.

“Training is of the highest priority so that teachers and support staff know how and when to act, and know the law is on their side.“ Sarah Troughton, Lancashire NUT’s Equalities Officer and President, said: “It is a sad indictment the priorities of our schools that Lancashire County Council’s Education Health and Wellbeing Team has yet to be taken up on its offer of in-service training on tackling homophobic bullying even though, crucially, almost three quarters of teachers state that they need specific training in this area.”