A PRIMARY school has been criticised by angry parents after they decided not to join in with Red Nose Day celebrations.

Parents have claimed that their children were left in tears when Lowton West Primary School decided not to allow pupils to take part in wacky events to raise money for charity during school time.

But the school has defended its decision and said that parents had already generously contributed to numerous charity appeals before Red Nose Day.

Mum Lorraine Newton, whose six-year-old daughter Charlotte attends the Slag Lane school, said: "We were told by a letter that the school would not be doing anything for this year's Comic Relief. We could not believe it. My daughter went into school with her red nose on but she was told by a teacher to take it off and put the nose away.

"For kids it's heartbreaking. She was in tears when she got home from school. Charlotte was so looking forward to Comic Relief. Many other schools in the area have done something for Red Nose Day, but Lowton West have not done anything. Taking part in Red Nose Day gives kids the chance to raise money and raise awareness about other people who are needy.

"Parents should have been consulted beforehand to ask them what they wanted to do about Red Nose Day."

A spokesman for Lowton West Primary School, said that they would not support Red Nose Day because parents had already raised £2,000 for Barnado's, Wigan & Leigh Hospice, the Poppy Appeal and the Tsunami Appeal.

He said: "The school has a proven track record for supporting a great number of charitable causes and because of these efforts and the fantastic support we have received from our parents it was decided that the school would not formally support Red Nose Day.

"We appreciate that we ask a lot of our parents and we did not want to put them under any pressure to support another appeal in the school's name.

"To this end a letter was sent out to all parents merely advising that the school would not be supporting the event.

"We must stress that this cannot be seen in any way as a snub to what we believe is a very worthy cause. Parents and pupils had the right to support

Red Nose Day independently and with the school's blessing through one of the numerous other organised fund-raising events that took place across the borough on the day."

This year's tenth Red Nose Day raised £38million for good causes in the UK and Africa.

Comic Relief, held every two years, was launched 20 years ago with a live BBC broadcast from a refugee camp in Sudan.

Since then, it has raised well over £300m for some of the poorest and most vulnerable in Africa and the UK.