IT WAS a bad hair day for two students at Stalham High who were sent home from school after dyeing their locks red as part of their Comic Relief celebrations.

IT WAS a bad hair day for two students at Stalham High who were sent home from school after dyeing their locks red as part of their Comic Relief celebrations.

Pupils had been told not to colour their hair for the event because of fears the dye would not wash out very quickly.

So when two male students arrived on Friday morning with new red dos, staff told them to go home, wash it out and then return to school. It is thought they had used the official Comic Relief hair spray.

The mother of one of the students said they were just trying to do “something funny for money” - the theme of this year's Red Nose Day - but had been sent home for it.

But head teacher Melinda Derry defended the decision. She said: “Past experience has taught us that children dyeing their hair red have often come into school the following week still with red hair, despite attempts to wash it out. For this reason we let all children know, well in advance, that they could wear wigs and hats and style their hair, but not dye it.”

Another parent with a daughter at the school said he believed one of the boys had not returned to the school because he could not remove the dye, while other students had had to rinse their hair at the school.

He said another local school had sent a couple of students home because of the same problem.

Ms Derry said Stalham High School had embraced Red Nose Day in other ways, including fancy dress and several fundraising activities and had collected �600 for Comic Relief.