SCORES of angry parents are in revolt against a school’s decision to send home dozens of teenage pupils in a mass uniform crackdown.

One mother even threatened to keep her son away from school until she could afford to buy new shoes for the teenager, who was among 54 pupils excluded from the prestigious Grace Academy in Solihull.

Claire Thomason, of Chelmsley Wood, claimed the crackdown was harming the education of her 13-year-old son Matthew Lee.

She claimed parents had no warning of the detailed uniform inspection, carried out on the first morning after the half-term break.

But school principal Roy Baylis stood by his hard-line stance – and vowed to buy pupils the correct uniform himself if he had to.

Matthew was excluded from class for wearing black sports shoes, complete with a green crocodile designer motif.

The school’s uniform guidelines state pupils must wear plain black shoes.

But part-time receptionist Ms Thomason, aged 32, said Matthew had worn the same style of shoes since September without incident.

“I even blacked out the logo with a marker pen,” she said.

“There have been no complaints before so I was surprised by the school’s change in attitude.

“The shoes cost more than £70 and I cannot afford to buy a new pair until I get paid next month.

“If the shoes were OK before, why have they suddenly become unacceptable?”

She said she was disgusted by the reaction of school staff when she informed them of her financial difficulties.

“A teacher told me to go to Asda and buy a pair for a tenner and claimed I should be able to afford that. I was horrified,” she said.

Ms Thomason said Matthew was hard-working but a “bit of a joker.”

She claimed he was victimised by school staff and regularly excluded from class.