Schoolgirls have been wearing such short skirts at a Staffordshire school that they’ve been ordered to wear pants instead.

    All skirts will be banned from September at Paget High School in Branston, Burton upon Trent.

    Tight-fitting trousers will also be forbidden and Muslim head-dresses will have to be “school blue” color. Head teacher Don Smith said: “One of the big issues for us at the school has been the number of girls who have been wearing inappropriately short skirts.

    “This has been an area of particular concern at a time when there has been a lot of material nationally about the sexualization of young people.”

    Smith said it would be impractical to police the length of girls’ skirts and said a blanket ban would be easier for staff to enforce.

    He said: “We did not want to arrive at a situation where we were telling girls their skirts could only be a certain number of centimeters above or below the knee.”

    The head teacher said they sought opinions from pupils, parents and other teachers before the uniform rules were changed.

    The new clothing policy has been explained in a letter sent to parents of the school’s 1,000 pupils and will come into force after the summer holiday.

    The school also wants pupils to wear clip-on ties instead of traditional neckwear.

    This rule will be phased in over the next year and support will be given to parents unable to afford the new tie.

    The new uniform regime has not been well received by everyone, however.

    One parent, whose teenage daughter attends the school, said: “I completely agree some girls were wearing skirts that were too short. However, I think girls should be allowed to be feminine.

    “Other schools manage to let girls wear skirts while making sure they are not inappropriately dressed. I don’t see why Paget can’t do the same.”