A school has hit back at accusations that pupils who travel on the train are rowdy and make the journey a nightmare for other commuters.

Rose Hetherton, deputy head at Downlands School in Dale Avenue, Hassocks, said only a handful of the 250 pupils using the trains every day were to blame.

She called for a closer working relationship with rail operator Govia, which took over the franchise from Connex earlier this year.

She said: "People are circulating scaremongering stories but they don't give us the information to assist them.

"Unsupervised pupil travel is always going to be a problem."

Govia said there had been reports of children using foul language, pulling emergency chords, walking on the electrified track and even holding out other children in front of oncoming trains.

Mrs Hetherton said it was unclear who had responsibility for the children on the railways and it would have to be looked into but she felt critics were tarring all pupils with the same brush when it was just a few causing trouble.

Recently, about a hundred pupils were late to school when a train was cancelled and students travelling from Burgess Hill and Wivelsfield were unable to get a train until later.

Mrs Hetherton said: "We had no idea where they were. Some parents rang us but certainly no one from the railway company did."

Mrs Hetherton hopes to maintain a closer relationship with Govia so they can look at other problems, such as fare-dodging.

She said: "I would like to be kept informed so we can make a decision and improve communication about incidents and the pupils involved."

"I want to work with them to improve things and to have clear communication channels and make it a better service for the public."

Martin Walter, director of communication for Go-Ahead, the part of Govia responsible for the day-to-day running of the services, said: "We have not commented on the children's behaviour beyond talking with Mrs Hetherton about it and the problems we face.

"We have little doubt that a lot of it will be the boisterous fun that you would expect.

"However, I have personally experienced some of the behaviour."

He said: "All train operators will do their very best to look after the safety of all customers.

"We could not, however, dedicate staff to look after a particular group who do not behave on occasions."

Mr Walter said he was more than happy for closer communication with the school.