Children at a Barnet primary school were shown a picture of a topless woman by a workman who was repairing a pavement next to their playground, it has emerged this week.

The pupils, from Whitings Hill School, in Whitings Road, Barnet, and all under the age of 12, were playing outside during a break in lessons in November last year, when the man, who has not been named, held up pictures from a tabloid newspaper. The incident only came to light this week as the repair work nears completion.

Barnet Council had subcontracted the repair work to Accord, a company offering public services including highway repairs, who had in turn employed staff from an agency to carry out the job. When allegations were made against the man, Accord removed the entire team of workers from the site.

Headteacher Richard Maudsley said: "There were no child protection issues. We reported it to the council who acted brilliantly. They swung into action in a bigger way than I thought possible. We dealt with it and moved on. This site is as safe and secure as we can make it."

He said parents had been informed about the incident, but no complaints had been received.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "A group of workmen were removed from the job in November after a resident spotted one of them showing a page three picture from a tabloid newspaper to pupils through the railings.

"The contractor replaced the whole group and the employee in question was promptly dismissed. An investigation was conducted at the time but no further action was taken."

Amanda McIntyre, director of public affairs at Accord, said: "The allegations were against an agency worker doing work on behalf of Accord. As soon as we were made aware of the situation, the worker was removed from the site and has not since undertaken work for us. We have taken the allegations seriously in partnership with the school and the council."

She said the company had reinforced measures to ensure subcontractors and agency staff received training on working in areas where children and other vulnerable people were present.

Work to reconstruct the pavement is due to finish this week, around four weeks behind schedule. It is not believed the delays were due to the earlier removal of workers.