A large inner-city school gave parents just three days' notice it was closing to allow staff to celebrate a religious festival.

Chobham Academy in Newham, east London, is partially closed on Monday due to a "high number of staff requesting leave for religious observance" for the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha.

Eighteen-hundred pupils aged three to 18 attend the independent mixed academy, but families were given just days to find alternative childcare arrangements.

Mark Elms, the primary principal at the school, offered parents his "sincere apologies".

Chobham has been closed to nursery, reception, Y1 and Y2 pupils, leading one father to claim parents had been "penalised".

Pedro Martin, a Spanish teacher and tutor in London, said: