A BOY with a haircut described by barbers as ‘standard’ has been stopped from going to classes because it breaches school rules.

Billy Eddleston, nine, has been turned away from Hoddlesden St Paul CE Primary School after the school labelled his hairstyle ‘extreme’.

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His mum labelled the decision a ‘disgrace’ but the school said the style was against its uniform policy.

Connie Eddleston, of Marsh House Lane, Darwen, said the youngster was ‘losing out on his education’, while the barber who performed the haircut said the ruling was ‘ridiculous’.

Mrs Eddleston, 30, said: “It’s an absolute disgrace. He has had the same hair cut, in varying lengths, pretty much his whole life.

“He had his first hair cut when he was 11-months-old and it has barely changed in that time. I feel like Billy has been victimised.

“I’m a self-employed painter and decorator and I have had to turn down work to stay home and look after him. He feels like he’s being picked on.

“He has to watch his two sisters walk through the gate in the morning and the head teacher waits for him and tells him he can’t come in. It’s so trivial.”

Mrs Eddleston admitted that she had tried to cut Billy’s hair before the Christmas break but ‘didn’t do it very well’ and that she subsequently took the youngster to a barber’s to have it fixed.

She said: “He walked through the doors on Monday and not a word was said. On Tuesday the head collared me and said it was still too long on the top and could I deal with it.

“I took him straight from school to Mario’s in Darwen and had it done. On Wednesday both the head and the deputy head were waiting for us and he was sent home.

“The same thing has happened on Thursday and Friday. I can’t understand, it’s just a short back and sides. It won’t stop him learning. If he gets it shorter he’ll look like a thug.”

The Bayne Street school said it followed Department for Education’s September 2013 guidelines on uniform policy, but the document makes no mention of banned hairstyles.

However the school’s prospectus states: “Shoulder length hair must be tied back. We have a no extreme or ‘current trend’ hair policy at our school. Plain red headband/headwear for girls and no hair gel for girls or boys.”

Mrs Eddleston, who is married to engineering manager John, 33, has two other children at the school. daughters Isobel, eight, and Olivia, six, as well as another son, Edward, two.

Head teacher Bernadette Bickerton said: “Billy has not been excluded from the school and we hope to see him back in class as soon as possible so any disruption to his education is kept to a minimum.

“Both parents and pupils are made aware of our high expectations and aspirations before they choose the school and we have a very clear uniform policy.”

Mario Ceraldi, who has been a barber for 28 years, said he cut Billy’s hair at his studio in Duckworth Street, Darwen, on Tuesday.

He said: “It’s not extreme in the slightest. It’s a neat haircut that looks smart.

“There are people with much worse haircuts than that, kids with longer hair who don’t even comb it.

“About nine out of ten of the lads’ haircuts we do will follow that style. It’s been around and been popular for decades.”

Hafiza O’Connor, who works at Alan Rene hairdressing salon in Blackburn, agreed with Mr Ceraldi.

Mrs O’Connor, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, said: “It’s just a standard haircut. I think it looks really nice.

“A short back and sides is a nice clean haircut. At least he’s not going in with it a mess. It’s not even dyed or anything.

“I can’t understand why they would stop him from going to school.”

Mrs Eddleston is due to meet with Mrs Bickerton, the school’s governors and an educational welfare officer from Blackburn with Darwen Council on Wednesday to discuss the matter further.