PUPILS returned to Devizes School after the Easter holidays on Tuesday to face a grilling as to why they hadn't come to school the previous day after a timetable mix-up.

Parents are angry over the confusion about a teacher training day that was cancelled but was left on the school website.

Parents spent much of the weekend phoning each other to try and work out whether their children were required to report on Monday or whether they would find the place deserted.

One Devizes mum, who has asked not to be named, said: "It was complete chaos. It said on the website that Monday was a training day but other mums I spoke to said it had been cancelled.

"We tried phoning the school, but, of course, there was nobody there. On top of all the other pressures you have to cope with at the end of the holidays, this was something we didn't need."

Parents who complained to the school said they were told that a letter had gone out before Christmas saying that the training day had been cancelled and pupils should go on Monday as normal.

Deputy head Julie Reeves said that only a small number of pupils had got it wrong. "The school calendar was drawn up last May and changes are inevitable. The date for the beginning of term was published in the last few issues of the school newsletter."