A MOTHER is seeing red after her daughter was told to change her hair colour or face being suspended from school.

Lorraine Phillips is furious that her 14-year-old daughter Sophie has been threatened with disciplinary action by staff at Brimsham Green School in Yate.

Sophie, who has a blonde fringe and dyed brown hair, was told to revert to her natural hair colour on her return to school after the summer break.

Mrs Phillips, of Celestine Road in Yate, said: "It costs money to get your child’s hair done and we should have been told about this rule being enforced before the summer holidays.

"They should have got all the students into assembly and told them then.

"I want to support the school in all their rules but I don’t support the way they have gone about this."

The mother-of-three, whose two elder children also attended the school, said she was not prepared to change her daughter’s hair colour straight away but would investigate cost and availability at several hairdressers.

She said new headteacher Alun Williams, who took over at the school at the beginning of term, was not making a good impression.

"He has angered a lot of parents and is not even prepared to compromise with them," she said.

"This man thinks he is running a boot camp and has no respect for his pupils or other parents."

Mr Williams told the Gazette he wanted pupils to look smart and was trying to be "as reasonable as possible" about enforcing uniform rules.

"This natural hair rule has always been policy but whether or not it was enforced previously I do not know," he said.

"It is hard to draw the line sometimes but I want the same high standards in presentation as I expect in education.

"Some students have been sent home but they changed their hair and the issue has been resolved.

"I would like to thank those parents who have been incredibly supportive as the vast majority have been."