PARENTS of children at the beleagured Littlefield School in Liphook have claimed this week that they are being forced to teach their children at home because of a row over fees.

The claim was made by a parent that four children were forbidden to return to the private Liphook school after the half-term holiday following claims and counter claims over problems at the school.

The parent, who did not wish to be named, claimed that some parents had been told not to send their children back to the school, which is now understood to have just 35 children on the roll.

It is believed to have followed a breakdown in communications with Littlefield over requests from parents for a reduction in the £1,700 school fees for the last term.

The school is due to be sold to the Petersfield-based Churcher's College and contracts were expected to be exchanged this week

"We tried to negotiate a reduction in fees because of the lack of facilities now at the school," said the parent.

She claimed that there was no orchestra or choir, very few sports fixtures, and no play or concert to mark the end of the summer term.

"All we got was a very nasty solicitor's letter saying that if we didn't pay up by last Friday, the children would be forbidden to return to school.

"We have written numerous times expressing our grievances but our letters haven't even been acknowledged," she claimed.

She told The Herald that it had been decided to keep her child at the school because they felt it would be too disruptive to remove her in her last year at Littlefield. She said that other parents felt the same and had left their children there.

"The fees were just inappropriate and we have asked for a meeting with the directors of the school to discuss the matter.

"We have spent a fortune at the school, and I am now at home on my one day off teaching four children. We are all prepared to pay a proportion of the fees but at the moment we are taking it in turns to teach the children."

The parent, who comes from Petersfield, told The Herald that because of difficulties with finding places in schools in the town, she was now travelling 70 miles a day on a school run.

"The children are very happy with the schools they are now at, but it unsettled them and it has been a very stressful time for everybody.

"I just want people to know that this is not the end and we may be taking court action; I feel so angry about this,"she said.

Although it was understood by The Herald last week that Littlefield teachers had found new jobs, the parent said it wasn't so and many were still looking for new posts.

"I feel so sorry for all the staff, it has taken the children quite a while to settle down and it has been extremely expensive. The whole thing has been handled appallingly with no regard to the welfare of the children or the staff," she claimed.

A statement on Wednesday from Patricia du Cros, a director of Littlefield School, said: "We remain open and fully staffed until the end of the summer term. All the staff are committed to continue the same standard of education as before.

"There are a small number of parents who are withholding fees while continuing to send their children to school.

"However we are not prepared to discuss the individual affairs of families."