A grammar school has been blasted as "completely absurd" for its plans to serve alcoholic drinks on its premises.
Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, which is in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, wants permanent permission to sell booze to parents during school concerts and other events.
It says it applies for temporary event notice (TEN) each time it hosts performances to serve beers and wines during the intervals but, as it attracts more pupils, it argues it now needs a permanent allowance.
But the neighbouring community in the wealthy town says the proposals "set a poor example’ for students" and have called the plans "unfair and ignorant".
Writing on social media, other residents slammed the school, one of the oldest in Britain.
"How stupid is this," one woman posted.
Another shared: "What the heck?"
A third said the plans are "completely absurd".
But the school, which is rated as "Outstanding" by Ofsted and caters for more than 1,000 pupils, has defended the application.
It stresses it is not a "regular entertainment venue".
Graham Swindells, Bishop Vesey’s finance and operations director, told Express and Star: "Our standing as a successful state grammar school in Birmingham means we have a reputation to uphold and we want to continue to do so.
“Since 2014, the number of students in the school has increased. We have gone from a four-form entry school to a six-form entry school, so that’s 192 students in each year group.
“As a result, our capacity as a venue for single-date events such as concerts is no longer viable. Instead of holding it over one night, we now have to hold that event over two nights or occasionally three."
Neighbours living on cul-de-sacs near the school said recently their roads were becoming "overspill car parks" when it held concerts.
Addressing this issue, Mr Swindells said: “We are very conscious of our neighbours and our local residents. In my time here, we have tried very hard to mitigate traffic issues.
“We try to mitigate as much as possible through communication with parents. All our events we hold in the evening are ticketed events with limited or reduced capacity, and with those tickets, it clearly demonstrates that parking isn’t available on-site where it isn’t available.”
If granted, the licence would allow Bishop Vesey’s to sell alcohol between 6pm and 10pm from Monday to Thursday, then from 6pm to 11pm on Friday. The weekend hours would start from 1pm and finish at 11pm on Saturday and 10pm on Sunday.
