PARENTS have criticised a York school for putting more than 200 pupils in detention for being late because of bad weather.

Joseph Rowntree School in New Earswick has come under fire after about 15 per cent of the school’s 1,300 pupils were given lunchtime detention for not making the 8.40am start on Tuesday after congestion on the roads due to heavy rain caused traffic gridlock.

The school’s head, Richard Crane, has defended the lunchtime detention, saying the school is cracking down on a small number of youngsters who are habitually late.

Paul Eyeington, 48, a railway worker from Haxby, whose stepdaughter, Steph Hodges, 16, was one of those late in, said: “I used to go to Jo-Ro, I left in 1981. Back then there used to be detentions all the time, but this must be a record. I can’t ever remember there being so many kids put in detention.

“I think common sense never came in to this decision and it’s bang out of order.

“If the kids have done wrong then they should get a detention and they should do it. But when the weather comes in to play and they can’t do anything about it, that’s another matter.”

Mr Crane said Tuesday was the first day of the crackdown on lateness and said the detention consisted of him and other senior members of staff speaking to the pupils involved.

He said: “I know that parents will support me in terms of wanting to raise standards in school. The buses that serve our school are often late and that causes problems for the students. We have spoken to the bus company and they have assured us they are tackling it.”

Gareth Davies, deputy head, said: “The number of children late on subsequent days has been far fewer – on Thursday we had less than 30.”