Eleven students have been kept out of classes today and some are still not in school at all, following a crackdown on inappropriate uniform.

Yesterday 40 pupils were taken out of lessons at Swadelands School in Lenham after uniform was deemed too tight or "not suitable for the world of work."

Head teacher Richard Baddeley confirmed that yesterday 22 pupils had been taken out of school by their parents after being asked to go home.

He said 11 students were present today but not in lessons and an 'unspecified' number had still not returned at all.

Those at home due to uniform breaches will have their case treated as unauthorised absences, but fines will not be imposed unless they are out of school for a long period.

Mr Baddeley said no-one had been turned away, but that all parents of students who broke the uniform code had been contacted and asked to pick up their children.

He also added the uniform policy had been implemented with the support of parents four years ago and recently there had been a decline in standards.

"Nobody was sent home," he said. "The parents were phoned up and asked to pick up their children."

He added those who couldn't be collected were separated from other students but still remained at the school.

"The vast majority of students complied as soon as they were told to, and were able to buy cheap clothing that was more appropriate for the working world," he added.

Parents were given eight weeks to comply with the uniform code and were sent letters, emails and texts asking them to make changes to their children's uniform.

"We began to notice that there was unacceptable clothing being worn and sent an email out to parents. We've talked to the students in assembly and sent multiple letters home."

However, one of the affected parents said that finding clothes that fitted the school's specifications for his 13-year-old daughter had been difficult and that children with the wrong clothes had been "singled out" by teachers.

"The clothes they offered to us just didn't fit my daughter. They gave us this ultimatum and told us to either take our children home or leave them in exclusion," he said. "A lot of parents were angry."