A TEENAGER with a skinhead was told he would have to study in a different classroom to his friends -- until his hair grew back.

Now Ashley Parkinson, 13, has been withdrawn from St Theodore's RC High School, Ormerod Road, Burnley, by his parents who slammed the move to put the teenager in a class by himself.

Ashley was given the grade one cut by his parents to rectify a previous cut which they said they were unhappy with.

But headmaster John Tat said school rules clearly state "extreme" hairstyles were not allowed and said the youth would have to study alone.

Ashley spent a day in an office segregated from other pupils before his parents complained and then withdrew him.

His mother Julie Holmes, 36, of Celia Street, Burnley, today demanded an apology from the school.

She said she did not think it was fair her son was separated from his friends and told the school if that was how he was going to be treated he would remain at home until his hair grew back.

But Mr Tat said the school rules were very clear and were outlined on the school prospectus and student planner.

He said today: "Ashley was not sent home, he was taken out of school by his parents, we did not exclude him.

"He arrived at school with a shaved head and his mother told staff it was because he had had a bad haircut and she had tried to put it right by shaving his head.

"She did not send any note of explanation and she knows we do not tolerate extreme hairstyles and a shaved head would seem to be extreme."

He said Ashley was taken out of class but he said he was given work to carry out in a separate room and given a break and a lunchtime.

He said the segregation would have continued until Ashley's hair had grown to an "acceptable length".

Mrs Holmes, who works at Burco Dean in Langham Street, Burnley, with husband Rennie Clayton, Ashley's step-dad, said: "It's true that Ashley's hair is very short, it was an accident, but that doesn't make him a thug. In fact he works very hard and I don't see why he should be picked on like this just because of his hairstyle.

"Other children at the school have dyed hair and that seems to be acceptable, but not Ashley's hair.

"All he wanted to do when he got back to school was to see his friends and spend some time with them, but instead he was put in a room by himself and wasn't allowed to see or talk to anyone.

"I am very unhappy at the way he has been treated."

Mr Tat said Ashley's parents should call in at the school so that the situation could be discussed and sorted out.

Earlier this year three schoolboys were shown the red card after they turned up at their school sporting a St George's flag haircut to show their support for England during the World Cup.

Brothers Jack and Sam Hardwick and Mathew Chestney, who attend Mansfield High School, Nelson, were told to remove the hairstyle -- a small England flag shaved and dyed at the back of the head.