A Surbiton headteacher said he was not “kept in the loop” about a needle exchange for drug addicts which was put next door to his new primary school.

Liberal Democrat councillors faced an onslaught of angry parents and teachers, who claimed the drug rehabilitation service at Surbiton Health Centre was kept secret, at a meeting on July 5.

Clinton Pascoe, headteacher of Lime Tree Primary School, opened in partnership with the NHS and council in September, said: “I didn’t sign up to the school knowing there was a substance misuse centre next door.

"I do not think it would have affected my decision to work there, I just would have looked into it more.

“I think at the moment what we have been trying to do is just gather further information to fully understand what is happening at the wellbeing services.

“We are just playing catch-up to find out information and by having these meetings that is what we are doing.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor Malcolm Self, a governor of the school, said: “How can parents and governors make a decision without knowing what is going on?”

Fellow Lib Dem Councillor David Ryder-Mills, Kingston Council’s member for education, said: “We are certainly investigating the consultation process.

"Not having been party to the consultation myself, I do not know how clear it was made about the wellbeing service, on the health side of things.”

A spokesman for Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group, which controls spending decisions for the NHS, said the decision was dealt with by its predecessor organisation, since axed by the primary care trust, but public health was now a council matter.

Conservative Councillor Andrea Craig said: “It was very heated. The parents were very unhappy with the way it had gone.

“The fact remains that no one has taken ownership. The councillors are trying to blame the health workers.”

A Kingston Council spokesman said needle exchange services reduced risk as users were more likely to dispose of their needles safely.

The situation was monitored closely and there had been no reported incidents, he said.

But Kinga Kulesza, mother of a child at Lime Tree Primary, said there have already been incidents where children have been exposed to indecent behaviour.

She said: “The school had a sports day a few weeks ago, and there was somebody standing at the gate making obscene gestures at the children.”

Jason Clelland, another parent of a child at Lime Tree Primary, will present a 700-strong petition at a council meeting at Guildhall on Tuesday, July 16, at 7.30pm.