A SCHOOLGIRL from York has been suspended for repeatedly refusing to fasten the top button on her blouse.

Paula Snelgrove, of Middlecroft Drive, Strensall, has branded the suspension of her 15-year-old daughter, Nicola, from Huntington School as ridiculous and petty.

But head teacher Chris Bridge says Nicola was suspended from school for continually defying senior teachers.

Nicola, who is in her GCSE year, came home from school on Wednesday night and told her mother she had been suspended.

Paula said she was contacted by the school and told Nicola had been suspended for refusing to sew a button on.

Paula said: "It seems silly and petty to me. It is ridiculous, just for a top button. If it is that big a deal, why could she not have sewn it on at home?

"She is missing school and it is an important year."

But Mr Bridge said: "As a school, we have always maintained high levels of smartness. Parents who choose this school know this. I hope they also know why we do it.

"When a pupil hasn't done their top button up we ask them to do so. When pupils do not have top buttons we ask them to get a button sewn on.

"This particular pupil had repeatedly failed to comply with this request. Yet again she had no top button on her shirt. She was given a button, a needle, a cotton reel and a choice of private places she could use to sew a button on in school.

"She refused. She was then given several further chances and she still refused. She was therefore excluded for four days for defiance.

"It is sadly typical of the campaign being waged against this school by a tiny group of parents that what actually led to this exclusion should have been deliberately and maliciously misrepresented."

Updated: 09:11 Saturday, April 03, 2004