Schools have been banned from using the dunce's corner to punish pupils.

The practice of making naughty children stand in the corner of the room has been outlawed in classrooms in Brighton and Hove.

Local education authorities have told schools in some parts of the country to ban making children stand in stressful positions because it breached children's human rights.

However traditionalists have condemned the guidance saying it leaves teachers without any means of controlling disruptive pupils.

Nick Seaton, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said banning the punishment was “ridiculous” and compared what went on in a classroom to Guantanamo Bay.

Schools in East and West Sussex are still allowed to use the punishment, but officials say it is rarely used.