PUPILS were warned "don't mention the war" when they decided to recreate a famous scene from Fawlty Towers in their school production.

They had decided to act out the scene - in which Basil horrifies German guests by goose-stepping through his hotel - in their sketch show.

But with two days to go before the curtain went up, teachers at the Roman Catholic St Thomas More School, Blaydon, Tyneside, stepped in.

The youngsters, aged between 11 and 19, were told the scene may upset some parents and were ordered to scrap it.

But many members of the cast and their parents were angry at the decision, accusing the school of political correctness.

Headteacher Michael Zarraga stood by the decision yesterday, insisting the Christmas concert was not the place for "contentious" material.

A school source said: "The episode about the Germans and 'don't mention the war' is arguably the most well- known and funniest of an internationally-acclaimed comedy series. To accuse it of being racist is political correctness at its worst."

The Germans, first screened in 1975, was voted the best-ever episode by visitors to the main website devoted to the sit-com.

In it Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, is left alone in charge of the Torquay hotel by his wife Sybil who has gone into hospital for a minor operation.

He loudly urges staff "Don't mention the war" within earshot of the bitterly upset foreign visitors, then ends the scene goose-stepping in and out of the dining room.

Mr Zarraga said: "I certainly did not regard that episode of Fawlty Towers as racist. I personally found it very funny.

"But it was thought some people may take a different view and be sensitive to it and so it was pulled out of the show.

"I think there is a difference between being aware of other people's sensibilities and political correctness."

But Martin Callanan, Conservative Euro MP for the North-East, said: "I am with the pupils over this. The scene is a classic piece of British comedy.

"For the school to stop the pupils putting on this sketch is absolutely ridiculous.

"If the politically correct brigade have their way we will all live in a humourless world where we couldn't laugh at anything for fear of causing offence."

Parent Linda Duffie, whose 15-year-old son Adam is part of St Thomas More's senior choir, said: "Personally, I wouldn't have found it offensive, not in the light-hearted way I perceive they would have done it."