Pupils have launched a petition after mobile phones were banned from a Sussex school.

Seaford Head has been asked to axe the restrictions by more than 200 pupils who have supported a student-led campaign against the controversial ban.

Year 10 student Robert Stevens said: “We have the private school across the road handing out mobile technologies to use in school, then there is our school taking them away.”

Students previously had to switch off their phones in class, but could text and call during breaks.

New rules mean they cannot use their phones at all on school property and need to ask the student services or the reception if they need to make a phone call.

Year 10 pupil Harry Godden added: “To have a break means that you are free to do, within reason, whatever you want for the allocated time, and as far as I am aware using a mobile phone is completely within reason.

“If you had an office job and 30 minutes for lunch, you won’t be fired for a quick phone call.”

Despite the outcry Kathryn Greenwood, personal assistant to the headteacher, claimed the students were happy with the new rules and added the ban was imposed to encourage the students’ communication skills and boost cyber safety.

She said: “The majority of students are happy. Our priorities are safety and learning and the ban will help us minimise harmful impact on our students.

“If it’s for a quick text, they can ask a teacher for their permission, but that need to be do it in agreed areas where it’s visible to everyone.”