Parents of children at a stage school that closed without warning threatened to sue as they were faced with a wall of silence for a second day.

Stonelands school of ballet and arts in Church Road, Hove, phoned parents to say they would close for the last time on Tuesday but gave no explanation.

Furious parents turned up at the £3,000 a term school demanding answers from staff as they collected their children.

They were told to return on Wednesday when a notice would be put up explaining the situation.

But when parents returned yesterday morning there was no such information available.

The school has refused to speak to The Argus about the closure.

Joanna Jowitt's 15-year-old daughter was months away from taking her GCSEs when the school closed.

But Mrs Jowitt, of Hove, said even the headmistress, Rebecca Haynes, could not tell her what was happening. She said: "We need to know what's going on. It's so completely unprofessional all of this.

"We need to know how to get our deposits back. We paid £1,000 in a deposit which we will need for wherever my daughter goes to next."

Parents were furious at the way the school had handled the closure.

Mildred Belton, of Ferry Road in Shoreham, has sent her 14-year-old son Kevin Muhny to the school for the last six years. She said she planned to sue the school and believed other parents would do the same.

The first warning signs Stonelands was facing financial difficulties emerged last August when it sold off its nearby boarding house.

The school, which was run by Diana Carteur since, then passed through three heads in the space of six months.

The role passed to Jonathan Rice, head of drama, when Mrs Carteur moved to Greece last September.

According to parents the school was then taken over by the mother of a Stonelands pupil, Rebecca Haynes, who had previously worked as a dinner lady and did administration for the school.

The mother of a former pupil at Stonelands, who did not wish to be named, said the school had suffered problems causing pupil numbers to diminish from 60 to about 21 at the time of closure.

She said: "The parents who kept their children there only have themselves to blame because we all knew what was going on."

Another parent who sent her 14-year-old daughter to the school said she sympathised with the head teacher. Mrs Gunn, of Hove, said: "Mrs Haynes turned the place around when she started there. I don't know the legalities of what's happened there but I know she's obligated not to say anything. I think it is the director, Mrs Carteur, who is pulling the strings. "I'm sure Mrs Haynes wants to run the school but it sounds like her hands are tied."

The closure echoes the struggles of Seaford Stage school Newlands, which was forced to close two years ago because of a lack of finance.

It was eventually rescued when two parents of pupils bought the school.

Musical director at drama head at Newlands stage school in Seaford Jane Pendry said: "As somebody who has been through this myself I'm terribly sympathetic for the students and parents. ìIt's a terrible situation to be in. But the school is back on track now with new management and a new head. We have availability at the school and will be happy to help students sit their GCSEs here."

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