More than two dozen people were allowed into a school after asbestos was disturbed.

Staff including teachers, janitors, cleaners and other workers were on Aberdeen’s Bridge of Don Academy premises in the days following the incident last month, according to BBC Scotland.

And concern has been raised after a council investigation report revealed there was no emergency response because a line manager “forgot” about the incident for five days.

The Unite union’s Tommy Campbell, when told of the details in the report, described it was a “catastrophic failure”.He said: “This has put workers at risk and lots of other people as well.” The report, which is redacted, says procedures failed before and after the asbestos insulation board incident.

It details how, on July 12, a worker was using a hammer and chisel to remove plasterboard facing and infill panelling above fire doors. The infill panel kept snapping and broke into three sections.

Concern was then raised about the material being removed and the conclusion was reached that it possibly contained asbestos.

The material was double-bagged and left beside a skip. On July 19, results from samples confirmed the presence of brown asbestos in the insulating board.

The report obtained by the BBC says the site was “not safe” as the area had “not been correctly decontaminated and isolated to prevent access by other users of the building”.

It states: “Twenty-five persons comprising employees, sub-contractors, janitors, teachers and cleaners have been identified as being on the premises from 12-17 July.”

And on the “emergency response failures”, it says: “Once the site supervisor notified his line manager about the potential disturbance of AIB (asbestos containing material) on 12 July, existing procedure was not initiated by the site manager because he was following instructions from his line manager.

“Line manager did not initiate procedure because he forgot about the incident until 17 July.”

A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said: “The health, safety and wellbeing of staff, pupils, contractors and all visitors to schools is a priority and Aberdeen City Council has robust policies, procedures and training in place in relation to asbestos.

“The incident has been the subject of an internal investigation and the council is supporting the Health and Safety Executive as it conducts its independent investigation. The matter will be the subject of a report to the audit, risk and scrutiny committee in due course and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”

For more information on asbestos and mesothelioma, please visit Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance