Officials in a British town say they are re-examining a school's banana ban invoked because a staff member has a life-threatening allergy to the fruit.

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Vivien Pengelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, called for an investigation after learning that students at Stoke Damerel Primary School have been told not to bring bananas to school since 2007, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

"This is the first I have heard about this and it does sound a bit over the top to me," Pengelly said. "It's my experience as a headteacher that when there are allergies in a school we encourage children to manage the risk around them. I shall be asking officers to look at this particular case again to see whether anything else might be done."

However, a spokeswoman for the council said the point will become moot in September, when the staff member -- who was not identified -- plans to leave the school and the ban will be lifted.

"A member of the school community has a severe life-threatening allergy to bananas and on the advice of the council, the school has asked pupils not to bring them in," the spokeswoman said. "These are very unusual circumstances but the school community has been supportive and understanding over the last two years."