A HEAD teacher has defended a decision to allow the school governors exclusive rights to sell the school's uniform.

Burford School, in Marlow Bottom Road, Marlow Bottom, is introducing a new school sweater from September which the school governors will have the exclusive rights to sell.

But new Government guidelines advise caution aganist this practice.

Omar Quirem, a spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills, said: "As our new guidance makes clear, schools should look to set affordable uniform policies that do not seek to make additional money through expensive and exclusive contracts.

"There is no need to do this, schools have record levels of funding and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said that the amount passed onto the school can be minimal in comparison to its impact on parents."

Head teacher Karol Whittington said the intention was not to make a profit, but to pass "significant" savings on to the parents.

She said the sweater was the most expensive item of school uniform and the committee could supply these much cheaper than Marlow Bottom Pharmacy in New Road, which has been the school's main uniform supplier for 15 years.

She said parents were still free to shop around for school shirts, skirts and trousers to find the best buy.

Mrs Whittington added: "If we had the sweater out in more than one place it would be very unfair for parents as there would be a big mark-up."

The school is introducing the customised sweater to give pupils a sense of identity.

It bears the words Marlow Bottom to avoid confusion with a school of the same name in Burford, Oxfordshire. The jumper also includes a badge that was designed by the pupils before half term.