UPDATE: Samuel Ryder Academy defends haircut rules 

Parents have hit out at a St Albans school, claiming it is targeting their son because of his "traditional English" haircut.

Anthony Mousiou, 12, has been repeatedly put in isolation at Samuel Ryder Academy because his short back and sides haircut is too short, his father claims.

Dad Evi, of Victoria Road, said: "It's not even an extreme haircut. This has been going on for weeks and it seems the school is targeting him.

"He is well dressed, well groomed, clean and well behaved lad. The school seems to be run by control freaks. Every one that sees his hair is amazed at what the problem is."

When Anthony started at the school in September, he sported a short back and sides with longer hair on top which had a line side parting.

The line parting was removed on the school’s request, but still his haircut is said to be a problem for the teachers and it is claimed Anthony is continually removed from lessons.

Evi, 44, an electrician, said: "He has a straightforward, normal haircut and they keep putting him in isolation. It got to the point where I took him out of school.

"He was out of school for three weeks while the county council tried to find him a place in another secondary, but there weren’t any available.

"We had a meeting with the school’s deputy head to resolve the situation, and he said the haircut was fine and sent him to class.

"But again this week he’s been targeted and put in isolation.

"The teachers say he is a nice kid, well-behaved. We’ve toned down his hair. There are pictures of kids on the school website and in its prospectus and Anthony’s hair is nowhere near as extreme."

He continued: "A short back and sides is a traditional English haircut, I think the school is discriminating against him.

"It’s very disappointing to have all these problems, Anthony has already missed three weeks of school - and they tried to prosecute me for it.

"He misses lessons by being in isolation. Every time I try to speak to the school about it they do not want to listen to me, it gets very frustrating."