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A schoolboy has been threatened with suspension after raking in £14,000 to pay for his university fees by selling sweets to pals in the playground.

Budding businessman Tommie Rose, 15, has made a fortune by selling chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks to pupils at Buile Hill High School, Salford.

He has even employed two mates to help run his business, paying them a princely £5.50 a day.

But now Tommie's business empire is under threat because the school says it breaches their strict healthy-eating policy and he has been accused of running a 'black market' on sweet treats.

Teachers say he could face suspension if he carries on smuggling Lucozades, Dairy Milk bars and Doritos through the school gates.

See which Dragons Den stars have backed Tommie's entrepreneurial spirit here.

(Image: Sean Hansford)

What are your memories of school tuck shops? Tell us via the form at the bottom of this article

Tommie, from Ordsall, started selling the snacks three years ago after being inspired by TV shows Dragon's Den and The Apprentice.

He racked up 10 days of suspension from his old school, the Oasis Academy in Salford, as punishment for his trade in September 2011.

So he moved school and took his business elsewhere, which put his daily earnings of around £60-70 into a trust fund to pay for a business degree from a top university.

Tommie told the M.E.N. he has his sights set on a top business degree from prestigious Oxford or Cambridge.

Parents Gary, 33, an office worker, and gym manager Tracy, also 33, describe themselves 'council estate born and bred' - and say they would struggle to pay £9,000-a-year tuition fees.

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Gary said: "He's a typical teenage boy who saw what he wanted and worked hard for it.

"He realised that if you want to get ahead in business and in life, you have to start at a young age.

"At first we thought we should stop him selling the sweets, but then we saw that he was doing it properly, legally and sensibly so we left it to see what would happen.

"I could only dream of making that sort of money at his age.

"It's a shame the school are trying to stop Tommie.

"According to his business model he'd have earned £2-3k by the end of the year, which would have made him the £18,000 he needed to pay for university.

Tommie Rose's sweet empire £14,000 Cash Tommie has made £5.50 Daily rate he pays his workers £9,000 Annual university tuition fees

"He's always thinking ahead and I think that shows an unbelievable knack at his age."

Tommie gets his stock from bulk discount stores and sells them to classmates at a competitive mark-up.

But James Inman, head teacher at Buile Hill Visual Arts College, has accused Tommie of running a 'black market' of sweet treats.

He said: "We admire this pupil's entrepreneurship but school is not the place to set-up a black market of fizzy drinks, sweets and chocolates.

"We have extremely high standards and with our healthy eating policy we don't allow isotonic drinks, fizzy drinks and large amounts of sweets for the good of our children.

"Our high standards are set out to pupils and their parents at the start of the school year."

poll loading Should the school let Tommie continue to run his fledgling business? 7000+ VOTES SO FAR YES NO

What's the point of school? Not banning kids with bright ideas, for a start, argues Fleet Street Fox.

Tommie is the latest young entrepreneur using business nous beyond their years to pull in cash.

Junior tycoon Henry Patterson also used sweets as his route to business success when he opened his own sweet shop in Buckingham at the age of just 10.

And last year teens Danny Shapcott and Dan Little started a business painting roadside bollards in their effort to save for university.

Charging householders £2 a bollard, they went round the village of Ferring, West Sussex, hoping to help meet fees of up to £9,000 a year.