Governors have given their support to a headteacher who suspended six pupils for joining a peace protest.

The students at Blatchington Mill School in Hove were barred after walking out of the school grounds in a demonstration against the Iraq conflict at the beginning of March.

The youngsters, who include Ross Garwood, Adam Whittaker, Sarah McMurray, Charlie Harrison-White and Luke Lamper, have missed a vital month of their education shortly before taking their GCSE exams.

During the incident, about 200 pupils charged out of the school but only a handful were excluded. Parents thought they were made scapegoats after the walkout got out of control.

They appealed to headteacher Neil Hunter for them to be reinstated and considered taking legal action.

But at a meeting with the school's governors, parents were told the ban would stand, although the pupils would still be able to sit their exams.

Luke's father Peter Lamper, of Poplar Road, Hove, said: "I still think he has been victimised but, unfortunately, I don't think we can go anywhere with it now.

"He has been brought homework to do but he needs to be in a learning environment.

"He will still be sitting six or seven exams but he struggles anyway."

After the meeting with parents, the school governors released a statement backing headteacher Mr Hunter.

The governors said: "The school will always respect the confidential nature of details concerning its pupils.

"This implicit integrity has made it impossible to respond to a variety of articles and claims being circulated which do not reflect the whole story and certainly not the truth.

"The result has been a most unfair and unjust criticism of the headteacher, Neil Hunter."