A headteacher has hit back at criticism of the way her school handles unruly behaviour from its pupils outside of school hours.

Paula Sargent, head at Patcham High in Brighton, has spoken out following an incident where children from the school terrorised a bus and spat on elderly passengers.

She called on the Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company, whose vehicle was involved, to press legal charges against any teenagers who could be identified as involved.

The story was reported in The Argus on Wednesday and appeared on our website where readers criticised the school for failing to apologise.

They said a "bland statement" issued after the incident by the school's finance manager Diane Bonner was not a good enough response for upset passengers.

Mrs Sargent yesterday said she had been unable to comment personally at the time because she was interviewing new teachers.

She said: "Being unavailable does not mean that I don't care. Of course I care. My staff and I spend our lives trying to instill a sense of social responsibility in our youngsters. The incident as described in the article is appalling and I am extrememly sorry that members of the public were terrorised in this way by students wearing our uniform."

She said the school was investigating the incident and had taken steps to identify the perpetrators. She added that it was a difficult task because she had yet to hear from the bus company and was reliant on students coming forward with information.

She said the school would act accordingly once it had the necessary information. Last year bus company manager Roger French said he received more complaints about Patcham pupils on the buses than any other school.

Mrs Sargent said: "I wish the bus company would prosecute but they are always reluctant to do so. This isn't helpful. The incident happened on a public service bus after school hours. A crime was committed and therefore the authorities should act accordingly."

Mrs Sargent said the school would always offer as much assistance as possible to the authorities as it considered this kind of behaviour completely unacceptable.

She pointed out that the school was only able to monitor pupils during the seven hours of the day when they were on site and said responsibility for their actions during the remaining 17 hours was largely with their parents and guardians.

She said Mrs Bonner, the school's publicity officer, was a member of her senior leadership team and the best person to speak on behalf of Patcham High when she was unavailable.

She said: "We're all working hard here to make our school better and the students we produce exemplary citizens. In truth, the vast majority of the young people here are a credit to the school, their parents and the local community."

Read the reaction to the incident at www.theargus.co.uk