Two friends accused of belonging to a bullying gang in Bicester have come forward to tell their side of the story.

Gemma Leach and Gemma Smoker, both 16, admit they were members of a group known as The Boo Crew - but say they were not involved in a coordinated bullying campaign.

The girls left Bicester's Cooper School in June and have decided to set the record straight after bullies at the school started threatening students and saying that The Boo Crew was "coming to get them".

Miss Smoker said: "People don't need to be scared. If people say The Boo Crew's going to beat them up they need to ignore it - nothing is going to happen."

The girls, who both live in Reedmace Road, say their group of about 11 friends had been called The Boo Crew by other people at the school after the nickname of one of its members.

In June, the Oxford Mail reported that the mother of a 16-year-old girl said members of the group threatened to kill her daughter and slash her face last year.

A week later, a 17-year-old girl claimed she was forced to miss three months of lessons last year because of bullying.

Miss Smoker and Miss Leach admit that they had some personal disagreements with other pupils, but it never amounted to a bullying campaign.

Miss Smoker said: "There were some incidents - girly things really - but we have never ever beaten someone up. There was a piece that said we threatened to slash someone's face - we never said anything like that."

Miss Leach, who was temporarily excluded from school after a fight, is worried about what her family think about the allegations.

She said: "Some of the incidents are true, but they are not telling the whole truth.

"It's made the school sound bad, but it's a good school. There are always fair punishments and everyone gets treated equally."

The girls are looking for work after sitting their GCSEs - Miss Leach wants to be a care assistant, and Miss Smoker hopes to become a hairdresser.

Miss Leach's mum Tara supports her daughter's decision to speak out. She said: "My daughter's never had the police at her door in her life. The Boo Crew were just a bunch of friends."

Cooper School headteacher Ben Baxter said: "We are aware of this group and permanent exclusions were deemed appropriate for two of them.

"As ever, the school continues to take a zero-tolerance attitude on such behaviour.

"In the case of these two girls, the school used flexible timetabling and temporary exclusions to modify their behaviour. As a result, both girls were able to sit a number of GCSEs last summer."