A teacher at a school in the Limburg town of Horn is under police investigation for having ‘unacceptable’ relationships with pupils, local newspaper Dagblad de Limburger says on Monday.

It is not the first time the teacher at the St Ursula school has been investigated, the paper says. Last year, a former pupil made a formal complaint against the teacher after catching him in an ‘intimate situation’ with an under-age pupil.

The public prosecution department said that case was not worth following up, leading the former pupil to bring in a private detective agency.

John Vullers, from investigation bureau Zuidema, told the paper he had questioned pupils, teachers and the parents’ association and that there appears to be a culture of silence at the school.

‘It seems there have been other incidents over the years involving both this person and other teachers,’ Vullers said.

The school has now brought in the police on the basis of his report. All parents have been informed about the police involvement but no details of the allegations have been made public.

Earlier this month the same school hit the headlines when a teacher sent a photograph of his private parts to pupils using Whatsapp. The school says there is no connection between that incident and the ongoing police investigation.