Public school boys riot over plan to admit girls

Eleven boys have been suspended from a public school for taking part in a drunken riot in protest at a decision to admit girls.

The teenage pupils went on the rampage at £19,000-a-year Downside School in Somerset, vandalising property, destroying the staff room, ripping down framed pictures and smearing dog excrement on carpets.

The head boy and four prefects are among those who have been suspended by the school in Strattononthe-Fosse, which is run by Benedictine monks and is the last all-boys' Catholic school in Britain. One pupil has been placed on "permanent" study leave and will only be allowed to return to take his A-levels.

The trouble erupted after some 17- and 18-yearold pupils held a drinking party in nearby woods.

A source said: "It was out of control. There were boys ripping frames off the wall advertising the girls' arrival. They hate that one of their best houses is being closed to rebuild facilities for girls."

Girls will join the school in September.