A head teacher has defended her school's decision to throw away hundreds of books after a “horrified” dog walker saw them dumped in a skip.

Numerous titles, including children's classics such as Mr Men and The Very Hungry Caterpillar, were spotted outside Milstead and Frinsted Church of England Primary, in School Lane near Sittingbourne.

A local resident, who wished to remain anonymous, got in touch with KentOnline to express her dismay at the discarded stories.

She said: “I was walking past with my dogs and was horrified by the idea of all those books in there.

“I was absolutely flabbergasted that, for whatever reason, they haven’t been offered to a charity.

“Some might have been damaged, but believe me there were some books in there which looked untouched and brand new.

“They were in very good condition so I can’t imagine why they would have all been thrown away.

“Especially with budget cuts, it beggars belief why anybody would do such a thing when there are so many kids in need and charities that could benefit.”

But school head Amanda Love said attempts to sell the books were made and that some were simply beyond their use-by-date.

She explained: "The books in question were unfortunately unable to be used by the school, as many were either too old and not in a good condition, or water damaged due to a leak in the wooden library.

"Others were out of date and not in line with our current curriculum, damaged or had missing pages.

"The school has, on a number of occasions, tried to sell the books at fêtes and bazaars.

"The Parent and Friends' Association (PFA) has also had book swaps to try to ensure these books were offered to our children first - before we decided to remove them from the school."

The academy, which has 87 pupils and was rated as “requires improvement” when inspected by Ofsted last year, is getting a new library.

Mrs Love said: "This is all part of the refurbishment and modernisation of Milstead and Frinsted Church of England Primary School so that we can provide our children with a fit for purpose 21st-century curriculum.

"The school has a wonderful new library within the school - alongside book corners and a reference library with hundreds of books for the children to use.”

It is thought the books have since been taken out of the skip by passers-by.