A FORMER headmaster appeared in court accused of historic sex offences on pupils.

Frank Skipwith was charged with 19 offences against boys under the age of 14 at the Fernden Preparatory School in West Sussex.

The alleged offences happened between 1981 and 1985. The school near the village of Fernhurst closed in the same year.

Police from the Complex Abuse Unit led the investigation after receiving reports in 2017.

Now the Crown Prosecution Service is leading the prosecution.

Skipwith, 79, of Wrights Lane, Eynsham, Oxfordshire, denied the charges at Worthing Magistrates' Court.

He was committed to stand trial at Guildford Crown Court on July 2.