Parents have hit back and praised a school for being ‘imaginative’ and ‘innovative’ following complaints about a staged alien landing.

Southway Junior School in Southway, Burgess Hill, has been criticised for going too far after the ‘alien crash landing’.

Police officers sealed off the area and asked the children for witness statements last Friday.

The stunt was part of ‘Everybody Writes’, a Government-funded literacy scheme, which ‘encourages schools to try out new and interesting ways of initiating writing’.

Some children, aged between seven and 11, were said to be ‘terrified’ and parents complained.

But other parents have now come forward to support the school.

Bettina Parrett-Jung said: “The children, including those who were initially scared, will spend the next 50 years telling everyone about the day.

“We wholeheartedly support the school and our son loved it.”

Other pupils have described the day as ‘the best day at school ever’ and spoken of their excitement at writing poems, articles, raps and stories about the event.

Headteacher Dinah Goss insists the day was a success.

She said: “Teachers have come back to me and said that pupils who normally struggle to write two or three sentences wrote pages and pages of great stuff.

“I’ve also had parents telling me their children were completely inspired and haven’t stopped talking about it.

“We’ve had almost 30 letters of support and more are coming in all the time.”

Ms Goss admitted that the staff had anticipated a small number of upset children and explained that a full support plan had been executed.