A school has issued an apology to parents after a supply teacher made “outrageous” threats to a class of eight-year-old pupils.

Children at Ashley Junior School in New Milton wrote a letter of complaint to the head teacher, Ian Rix, who has described the tutor’s behaviour as “appalling”.

Mr Rix has assured parents that the teacher will never be allowed to work at the school again.

Last night the agency that supplied the stand-in member of staff refused to say if he would be disciplined or sacked.

The nature of the threats he made to the children has not been revealed.

Mr Rix denied reports that they had been misbehaving at the time and said he had “no idea” what sparked the outburst, which occurred during an afternoon lesson on April 13.

In a letter to parents he says: “Some of his comments and threats were outrageous and clearly did not meet our expectations or the ethos of the school.”

He said the teacher in question had not been to the school before.

Mr Rix says the agency is taking the school’s complaint “very seriously” and adds: “I have spoken with the whole class to reassure them that such behaviour from anyone in our school, let alone an adult, is not acceptable.”

Mr Rix adds: “We are very proud of our school and its very special ethos.

"One of our many strengths is the positive relationships that are very apparent to any visitor and that we work hard to develop. My apologies that on this occasion we have not met the standards we expect.”

A spokesman for the company that provided the teacher, Supply and Demand Recruitment Ltd, said: “Supply and Demand is a reputable, established teacher supply agency that has been providing staff to schools and nurseries within the local area since 1999.

“We conduct rigorous and comprehensive checks on all our staff.

"We have high expectations of professional conduct which are continuously upheld."