PARENTS of children attending St Mary’s C of E Junior School, Ely, have been warned that they could be banned from school premises after reports that racist remarks had been made to families from Eastern European backgrounds and that some pupils had repeated racially intolerant statements in school.

In a letter to parents and carers of her 480 pupils, the head teacher, Rebecca Ireland-Curtis, wrote: “This is completely unacceptable for both parents and children to behave in such a manner. . . Any parent or carer found to be involved in any racist incident will be reported to the local governing body and to DEMAT [Diocese of Ely Multi-Academy Trust], who have the power to ban individuals from the school site. . . If necessary the school will not hesitate in reporting incidents to the Police.”

The school, whose motto is “Respect”, would be carrying out a full investigation and holding a series of assemblies and lessons to support its ethos of inclusion and tolerance, the letter continued.

This week, a prominent addition to the website of the parish church, St Mary’s, said: “In view of recent news about St Mary’s Whoever you are, wherever you come from, you’re welcome here!” It included a link to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s post-EU-referendum speech in which he called for immigrants to be reassured.

A spate of incidents affecting Eastern Europeans in England has been reported since last month’s referendum resulted in a majority for Leave.