A community centre run by two former members of a far-right political party has denied teaching children conspiracy theories following an investigation by a national newspaper.

According to an investigation by The Times, as many as 20 children attend Hope Sussex at a site near the village of Netherfield, near Battle.

The newspaper reported that, while the standard curriculum is taught to pupils, it is presented through the prism of conspiracy theories - something the centre denies.

A picture on Hope Sussex’s website shows a group of school-aged children, with one child wearing a hoodie featuring the words “World Hoax Organisation”, alongside the emblem of the World Health Organisation.

The phrase has been commonly used by anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown activists in recent years.

The centre’s founders, Matthew Single and his wife Sadie, are both former members of the far-right British National Party (BNP).

Mr Single had previously stood twice as a candidate in council elections, but was expelled from the party. He admitted leaking the names and details of thousands of party members online in 2008 and was fined £200 by a court.

He admitted disclosing the names, addresses and occupations of 12,000 members of the BNP in breach of the Data Protection Act.

Sadie was also expelled from the party but charges against her were dropped.

A Hope Sussex community group on the messaging app Telegram features pictures of children being taught how to make a slingshot with branches and a handsaw, as well as promoting events organised by the organisation, including a book signing with Right Said Fred - which have been criticised for sharing a number of anti-vaccination posts on Twitter.

According to The Times, Ofsted is understood to be investigating the centre and said it has “reasonable grounds” to suspect Hope Sussex of running an illegal school.

A spokesman for Ofsted said: “Our concern is that they are operating a sham home education centre that is in fact an illegal school.”

Hope Sussex said that tutors at the centre are advanced DBS certified and “entirely reject all and any form of prejudice within our society”.

A spokesman for Hope Sussex said: “All of us at Hope have entirely rejected the division and hatreds that are created and encouraged by the state and its media puppets, as a way of keeping the people divided and controlled through fear and ignorance.

“We are one community with one goal - building an alternative to a deeply corrupt degenerative system that is unfit for purpose other than lining its own pockets with our taxes.

“No tutors at Hope teach “conspiracy theories”. We teach them to think critically at all times and to question everything, to investigate themselves and not to believe the often harmful state propaganda peddled on our TV screens.

“Both Sadie and Matt were expelled from the BNP nearly 16 years ago. They have become vocal critics of divisive politics and seek unity. They have a proven track record of diligent critical thinking tutorage that has helped many kids to realise their potential, that had been withdrawn from the suffocating and woke agenda driven environment of the state school system.”