Two public school pupils have been expelled after being caught indulging in sexual foreplay.

The partially-dressed male and female students from Lancing College were discovered in one of the pupil's on-site bedsits on Saturday night by a member of staff.

The Upper Sixth Formers were summoned before the headmaster on Monday and expelled for "sexual misconduct".

It is the second scandal to hit the £4,445-a-term school, which counts among its old boys Tim Rice and Jamie Theakston, in the past 14 months Last year three 17-year-old boys were suspended after being caught by a member of staff smoking cannabis, although they were reinstated in July.

In the latest incident, the pupils had propped a bed against a door on Saturday night when they were discovered.

A fellow pupil said: "I am very dismayed at two pupils being expelled for being caught in a compromising situation on Saturday night.

"It is obvious that sexual misconduct is against school rules but it has been blownout of proportion. They did not have sex.

"The door was partially barricaded by the bed, but they only wanted some privacy and intimacy.

"It is not fair to ruin at least seven years of work leading to A-levels for these two pupils."

Headmaster Peter Tinniswood said: "Two pupils have been expelled from the college for sexual misconduct.

"The pupils have infringed the clearly- stated rules of the college and the college is giving them its full support in planning the next stage of their education."

The school was all-male until girls were allowed into the sixth-form in 1971 and it went fully co-educational this month. Visits between girls' and boys' boarding houses is permitted only at specific times according to its prospectus.