PUPIL Shane Evans has been sent home from school because his headteacher has branded his hair too short.

Fourteen-year-old Shane was told to leave Budmouth Technology College after he came to school with his head shaved.

He has been told by principal David Akers not to come back until after the half-term break when his hair will have grown back.

But Shane, who lives with his family in Abbotsbury and has been at Budmouth for four years, said he was disappointed he had been sent home.

He said; "I really like school and all my friends are there. I am really annoyed that I have been told not to come back until my hair is longer.

"I was told not to come back until after the half-term holiday. I always wear my hair short because I play a lot of sport like football and it is easier for me to have it like this."

Mum Helen Evans, 35, who lives with Shane's stepdad Stewart Pullin, 24, said she thinks the school's actions have been too extreme and he should not have been sent home.

She said: "There is nothing wrong with his hair being this short.

"It looks tidy and having it this length is not going to effect how he performs at school or how he behaves.

"He is a good pupil who goes to school and does his homework.

"The school should be more concerned with children who are skipping school, smoking and taking drugs than how short Shane's hair is. He has got his GCSE exams next year but he is now going to miss four school days just because his hair is a little bit shorter than normal."

But principal David Akers said Shane, who is in Year 10, had been sent home because he had broken a school rule.

He said: "We have certain high standards at this school including how pupils dress and their uniforms, jewellery and hair cuts.

"We do not accept extreme hair cuts, long or short."

He added the school rules are well known by both parents and children.

He said: "Pupils with short hair are allowed to have a grade one or grade two haircut but they are not allowed to have their heads completely shaved.

"Shane has broken the school rules so he has been sent home until after the half-term holiday."