A FORMER East Lancashire teacher has been told he has no case to answer over a child sex abuse inquiry at Stonyhurst College.

Father Paul Symonds, 65, was arrested in November 2009 over his career at the Ribble Valley institution in the 1970s.

He was detained on suspicion of indecently assaulting a boy aged under 16, in relation to his time as a teacher and assistant housemaster at Stonyhurst.

But a Lancashire Police spokesman has confirmed that no further action is now being taken against Father Symonds.

He was working as a curate in Ballymena, in Northern Ireland, when the inquiry first got underway, and stepped down as a result. He was never charged with any allegation.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s child abuse investigation unit initially arrested the minister, as his accuser lived in the capital.

But the case was transferred back to Lancashire Police last January.

Father Symonds was awarded an OBE for his role in tackling sectarian problems in Ballymena.