A father was left fuming after the headteacher at his daughter’s school decided to lock the toilets – apart from at lunch and break times.

Chris Tipler, 52, of Maple Avenue, Kidlington, said he was disgusted because he and other parents had not been consulted about the decision.

Gosford Hill School made the change after refitting the toilets last month.

If pupils want to visit the toilet during a lesson, they must ask permission and “sign for a key”.

Mr Tipler, a bookbinder at the Bodleian Library, in Oxford, has an 11-year-old daughter in year seven.

He said the ban was also causing queues at lunchtime.

He said: “It’s a basic human right for everybody to have access to toilets, whether it’s where you work or where you go to school. If my boss turned around and said to me I had to ask to use the toilet, it would be ridiculous.

“I think I should have been consulted.

“I think it’s disgraceful.

“If it’s something to do with vandalism, it seems to me they’re punishing the majority of the kids for the actions of a few.”

But Gosford Hill headteacher Dr Stephen Bizley defended the measures.He said they were taken after children asked for the school to improve the “condition and safety of their toilets”.

In February’s edition of the Gosford Times, the school’s monthly newsletter, business manager Martin Horton explained the situation.

He said: “For a trial period it was agreed to monitor and control the number of students accessing the toilets during lessons.

“All the toilets are open before school starts, during breaks, at lunch and after school, but during lessons they are locked.

“If students need to go to the toilet during lessons it will be at the teacher’s discretion.

“They will go to the main reception where they will sign for a key to use a toilet and then return it.

“There are a very small number of students who have specific medical conditions which may require quick and easy access to a toilet. These students are generally known to staff, but they are being seen individually to decide the most appropriate support.

“Any students who feel they have a particular medical condition should discuss it with their tutor.

“The aims of the trial arrangements are to give students toilets which are safe and in good condition and to improve the teaching of all students by reducing the disruption caused to lessons.”