28 excited pupils thought they were on their way on a long awaited trip to Venice when the pilot requested they be removed from the aircraft as there were not enough teachers to chaperone them.

The drama unfolded at Bristol International Airport when EasyJet refused to fly the students on their cultural trip to Italy with only 2 teachers, when flight regulations stipulate a ratio of 1 adult to every 10 children must be adhered to.

The crushing decision was made even worse in the knowledge that the previous day, 34 other pupils from the same school; Huish Episcopi School Science College in Somerset had flown out to the same destination, accompanied by 4 teachers.

Headmaster Graham Roff explained that due to the popularity of the trip, the party has been split into 2 groups which had originally been scheduled to fly together. He added he was in contact with the tour operator and was trying to discover exactly why the situation happened, saying they had never experienced this problem on previous school trips.

The 13 year olds waited at the airport for 2 hours to see if a solution could be found, but when it became clear one could not, the children were all sent home.

One mother stated some parents were irate that the children had been left disappointed, suggesting that perhaps someone had forgotten to read the small print, while the headmaster concluded that “the matter is not as simple as it may seem.”

A spokesperson for the School Travel Service who arranged the trip apologised and said the company involved would offer an alternative discounted trip later this year, or provide the parents with a full refund.