More than 20 years after being forced to turn away a wheelchair-bound girl, a Lincolnshire headteacher has worked tirelessly to now have a fully accessible school.

Headteacher Paul Strong can remember the day a family asked if their daughter could attend William Farr School in Welton to join her brother and sister.

But the school, which is built over two floors, could not even begin to accommodate her.

"This is a community school but it was with a heavy heart I had to say we couldn't take her," said Mr Strong.

Mr Strong, with the help of staff and parents, began fundraising and looking for grants wherever he could.

And the first step in making the school truly inclusive was the purchase of stair lifts and a new building which linked part of the first floor.

It made the school 70 per cent accessible for the first wheelchair-bound pupil.

Mr Strong said:"We made that commitment, it says 'welcome to William Farr' above the door, not 'welcome if you can walk'.

"We see it as our duty to have these youngsters in our school."

And the school has come a long way since stair-lifts.

There are now five lifts, fully equipped disabled toilets, walkways linking all of the first level floors, disabled fire-safety refuge areas and automatic and magnetic doors.

Along with children with a range of mobility issues, there are two wheelchair users currently in the school.

And the latest addition will be braille signs as the school has taken on its first blind student, 13-year-old Jake Coles, who lost his sight just over a year ago.

"I think it's a really good school and I find it quite easy to get around," he said.

"The reason I picked this school was because it is mostly on one level and most of the corridors are wide."

The young girl who was turned away later returned to William Farr to join the sixth form.