British school advises pupils to remove blazers for a safer walk home

London, Feb 17 : A leading British school is preventing its students from being robbed off in a novel way - by asking them to remove their blazers and ties while going home.

Highgate School in North London decided to advise its pupils after a series of incidents wherein students on their way back home were robbed by children from state schools wanting their mobile phones, music players and wallets.

Police officials have advised the school to allow the students to dress down on their journey home if they felt vulnerable.

"I should think that children coming from a more wealthy area are targets, especially if they are carrying expensive kit or if they are behaving in a way that makes them appear better off," Times Online quoted Adam Pettitt, headmaster, as saying.

Sergeant Leon Christodoulou, a Safer Neighbourhood police officer for Highgate, said that the students from local independent schools are attacked by students from state schools, who assumed their victims came from privileged backgrounds and were likely to have money and expensive phones and equipment on them.

He added that he was also trying to encourage students not to bring expensive pieces of kit to school with them.

ANI