A housemaster at a £20,000-a-year college has quit after inviting students back to his quarters to drink.

The teacher at Lancing College resigned the day after the annual sports awards dinner, which spilled over into a party at his home.

He had attended the dinner with colleagues, governors, parents and pupils to see the college's best sports players be presented with awards for their achievements during the year.

He ended up back at his quarters with a group of 18-year-old male and female students, to whom he offered alcoholic drinks.

The next day he went to headmaster Peter Tinniswood's office to say he had acted improperly and resigned.

A college spokeswoman said the teacher had not been asked to leave his job but after making his decision was told to leave the premises by the headteacher.

She said the teacher was considered to have done the honourable thing.

He had had to give up the home he shared with his wife in the quarters of a house for male boarders.

As housemaster, he had the role of resident adult overseeing the house.

Lancing College, one of the most prestigious schools in the country, charges £12,000 a year for day students and £20,000 a year for boarders.

Past pupils at the school for 13 to 18-year-olds include literary giant Evelyn Waugh and Lord Dearing, who advised the Labour Government on student tuition fees.

The college, set in the Sussex Downs overlooking Shoreham airport, boasted some of the best GCSE results in England last summer, bucking the national trend of falling grades.

Its web site says: "The college offers an exciting education in a beautiful environment."