A 60-year-old teacher who used obscene sexual language towards a teenage girl during a design and technology lesson has been struck off.

Former Dartford Science and Technology College (DSTC) employee Roger Ferguson stood accused of a host of inappropriate behaviour towards pupils during a disciplinary hearing earlier this month, the results of which were published last week.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership conduct panel found him guilty of leading pupils at the all girls school by the hand, “intimately” putting his arms around one girl while she was using equipment, and giving another a hug.

He also said “love ya” to a girl during a lesson and discussed his preference in women with pupils, including that he found women over a certain dress size unattractive.

Mr Ferguson, who was also a director at the nonselective school in Heath Lane, described such women as “fat” and went on to guess the dress sizes of girls in his class.

The sexual comment came during an after-school lesson in which a girl, aged 14 or 15, was using a pillar drill, prompting awkward laughter from both of them.

In a separate incident, he told an autistic teenager struggling to carry out tasks during a woodwork lesson that she “had enough muscle there” as he squeezed her arm.

The girl felt “offended and annoyed” by his conduct, which the panel described as “highly inappropriate towards a vulnerable pupil”.

On March 18 last year, the school received a letter from a pupil’s father alleging “inappropriate physical contact and verbal communication”.

That same day, a pupil reported to the school a separate allegation of the same offences.

Mr Ferguson, whose behaviour one pupil described as “very touchy”, was suspended pending an investigation by the vice-principal, during which further allegations of a similar nature were raised by other pupils.

He resigned a few months later on July 1, almost 14 years after he began teaching at the school in September 2002.

The panel also saw previous written warnings issued to Mr Ferguson for similar behaviour in 2009 and 2012, plus an informal warning in 2015.

In their summing up of the evidence, the panel said that the teacher had failed to treat pupils with dignity and respect, observe the boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position, or shown tolerance for the rights of others.

“The panel considered that Mr Ferguson has demonstrated a lack of insight into the seriousness of the allegations, the impact of his behaviour upon the pupils in his care and the need to change his behaviour when teaching,” it added.

“This deep seated attitude is demonstrated by his failure to follow previous warnings and guidance provided by the school.”

Mr Ferguson, who did not attend the hearing, has been banned from teaching indefinitely, including at schools, sixth form colleges, and children’s homes, and cannot apply for the order to be set aside for three years.

He has until next month to appeal the decision.

DSTC, which is rated “Good” by Ofsted, broke up for summer last week.