A scathing report has revealed years of �significant failures� in management at a controversial school for troubled youngsters.

Lucy Adams and Brian Currie

A scathing report has revealed years of "significant failures" in management at a controversial school for troubled youngsters.

The independent inquiry found that physical abuse was "prevalent" at Kerelaw Residential School in Stevenston, Ayrshire, and that complaints by staff and children were not properly investigated.

Problems at the Ayrshire unit for troubled youngsters came to light in April 2004 when a Care Commission report alerted the council to abuse claims. The school and the secure unit were subsequently closed.

In 2006, an ex-teacher and a care worker were jailed after being found guilty of physically and sexually abusing children at Kerelaw.

Eddie Frizzell, chair of the independent inquiry and former chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, yesterday said there were major failings in Glasgow City Council's stewardship of the school.

His report said: "Overall there was a significant failure in leadership and management that led to the relative neglect of Kerelaw and, as a consequence, the dual abandonment of those who lived and worked there.

Mr Frizzell was asked by the Scottish Government in November 2007 to carry out an independent inquiry into long-standing abuse at Kerelaw, which closed in late 2004.

The inquiry's findings were widely welcomed by all the main political parties and Children's Minister Adam Ingram pledged that the lessons learned would be applied nationally.

He said: "While the recommendations in this report primarily concern Glasgow, the Scottish Government has fully taken on board all those with implications at a national level and it's clear that this report must also be considered carefully by all providers of residential care and local authorities who place children."