Weekly music lessons for children aged between 11 and 13 have been cut from the timetable at a school in Essex because of budget cuts, a head teacher has said.

Gordon Farquhar, from the Joyce Frankland Academy in Newport, near Saffron Walden, said: "I don't think we want to reduce any subject provision.

"Unfortunately in this situation I have a music teacher who left, so that has made me have to review the situation."

"By doing this with music, we can be creative, and we can continue to protect all the other subjects," he added.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "The core schools budget has been protected in real terms since 2010 and is set to rise from £41bn in 2017-18 to more than £42bn in 2019-20 with increasing pupil numbers."