The first scientific study of its kind into a sleep disorder in children is being conducted by Oxford University researchers, writes Andrew Ffrench.

The research team will recruit 100 pupils aged between five and 16 to try to discover how narcolepsy affects their quality of life.

Clinical researchers estimated last week that more than 20,000 people in Britain a high proportion of them schoolchildren are suffering the condition which causes acute tiredness, but remains widely unrecognised by the medical profession.

Paul Montgomery, of Oxford University's child and adolescence psychiatry section, said: "Many children who suffer from narcolepsy have a very poor quality of life.

"Because the condition is so under-recognised in school these children are often seen as hopeless, idle cases. They often have difficulty concentrating or processing information, yet they are no less intelligent than other children."

Narcolepsy is a malfunction of the sleep/wake regulating system in the brain. It causes a tendency to fall asleep in unlikely circumstances, such as in the middle of a conversation or meal.