A HARPENDEN headteacher revealed he hired a private investigator to catch parents cheating the school admissions system and admitted he continues to spy on the families of prospective pupils.

Norman Hoare, headteacher at St George's School in Sun Lane, admitted using the extreme measure to prevent parents lying to get their children into his school.

It was first brought to the Review's attention that Mr Hoare had been spying on prospective parents, who he suspected of by-passing the entry criteria by renting property in the town, in 2007.

But Mr Hoare admitted to the Review today that he continues to snoop on doubtful parents by visiting the addresses supplied to confirm whether an application is genuine.

On occasions, Mr Hoare said he and his deputy have sat in a car inconspicuously waiting outside the suspected addresses at key times of the day to check for activity.

He said: "When I have done it on the rare occasion we are looking for the nature or kind of accommodation that the applicant is living in. Is it a one-bedroom flat? Are the lights on? Is it occupied in the morning? You have to give yourself confirmation that people are actually there.

"People have been living outside the area and renting accomodation on a short-term basis in Harpenden."

He admitted hiring a private detective four years ago to rumble a family he suspected of bending the rules. By Mr Hoare's own admissions the action was "extreme", but he said it led to the offer of a place being withdrawn.

Under the entry criteria, governed by the school itself, applicants must live in the town or in the surrounding villages on a permanent basis.

Mr Hoare said families, when challenged to hand over documentary evidence as proof of their address following his own investigations, have withdrawn their application.

He warned off parents attempting to defraud the system saying: "Every application form that we get as a voluntary-aided school is checked and anything that raises suspicions amongst the team is looked at carefully.

"We have applied a very strict and thorough search system from the moment we get an application to the point where an offer is made.

"We don't wait until offers are made, we start our process at the start.

"Should there be problems we have dealt with those before any offer is made.

"There is nothing worse than a child being made an offer and at a later stage fraud being discovered."

He continued: "I understand why parents do it - secondary education is valuable."