Teachers in a fix over lessons in shame

One of Britain's oldest schools has suspended two teachers after teenage students on a cultural trip to the Far East ended up watching a live sex show in Bangkok.

Horrified parents only found out about the visit to the Thai capital's notorious Patpong redlight district after one girl of the Bingley Grammar School in West Yorkshire, posted pictures from the trip on her Facebook web page.

According to News of the World UK one photo showed students, aged between 16 and 18, and the two teachers sitting around a table littered with beer bottles outside a bar.


It showed one of them about to puff from a hookah - a Middle Eastern pipe through which mint-flavoured tobacco is drawn through water.

Apparently some of the students moved on to the sleazy redlight area, whose streets are lined with bars offering sex shows.

The paper quoted a staff member of the school as saying: "The teachers, a man and a woman, are fighting for their careers over this because the youngsters were supposed to be in their care.

"They are claiming that the kids did not drink or smoke although that's not what the pupils are saying. But the worst part is that some of them went to the live sex show.

"The kids said it was disgusting, with couples there on stage having sex in a grotty bar. The teachers are claiming it was a mistake and as soon as the action started they left. But that is at odds with what the kids are saying.

"I mean, the Patpong area is not the kind of place where you go by mistake."

A dozen students from the school - whose motto is Passing on the Torches of Learning - spent a month in Thailand and neighbouring Laos over the summer.

Besides sampling the Far East's culture, they trekked through jungles to remote communities, helping disadvantaged schools with jobs like fixing broken furniture, painting and providing sporting equipment for tudents.

Head teacher Chris Taylor confirmed that the school, with the help of Bradford Council, has launched an inquiry. He said:

"A potential concern has been raised about activities during the trip. We are treating this with extreme seriousness."

"We will take appropriate action at the investigation's conclusion. It is inappropriate to comment further."