A group of 12 pupils robbed at gunpoint while on a school trip to Guatemala are preparing to return home.

The 16 year olds from The Skinners School, Tunbridge Wells, were travelling on a private bus with two teachers and an expedition leader when armed men forced their way on board last Friday.

The passengers were taken off one by one, robbed of all their personal possessions totalling £2,000, tied up, and left by the side of the road for four hours.

Once their attackers had left, pupils and staff followed their pre-trip training designed for such emergencies and activated an emergency beacon, calling the in-country support services for help .

The four-week trip, which cost each pupil £3,500, was organised by World Challenge Expeditions but funded by the teenagers themselves over a period of one and a half years through fund-raising at the school, involves jungle treks and community projects. The boys were coming to the end of their third week when they were robbed.

Headmaster Simon Everson said he was immensely proud of the boys and staff: "They showed enormous resourcefulness and character, they went out there for a challenge and this was a unwelcome addition to the programme but they showed the same qualities that we see in school everyday."