SHOCKED parents have leapt to the defence of a primary school subject to legal action over allegations of racially-motivated bullying.

Juliet and Adrian Ryan withdrew their seven-year-old son from Holland Park Primary School, in Clacton, after claiming he suffered near constant abuse at the hands of bullies.

They are suing the governing body of the school over allegations they did little to deal with the problem.

Mrs Ryan claims her son was racially abused frequently and physically attacked to a degree which warranted medical treatment.

Despite arranging meetings with the school on several occasions, Mrs Ryan says she received no apology or reassurances the school would “tackle the issue.”

Fellow parent Saskia King is also suing the school amid similar allegations, saying her nine-year-old boy was subjected to two years of “bullying, isolation and assaults”.

Mr and Mrs Ryan have organised a peaceful protest, to be held outside the primary school today, in the hopes of raising awareness of a perceived problem with racism in Clacton.

But several parents have hit back against the legal bid and the planned protest.

One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said protests should never be held at the front gates of a primary school.

“Children this young shouldn’t have to see this kind of action taking place outside their school,” she said.

“I was at the school from the age of six and my son attended, while my daughter is still there.

“The teachers are absolutely lovely. When you see children go up to teachers at the end of the day and they’re giving them encouragement and a hug, I just think it can’t be bad.

“I don’t believe that teachers would turn a blind eye to children of the ages of five and six being bullied.”

She added: “My children have never witnessed racism at the school of any kind.”

Mrs Ryan pointed to figures released in 2012, which revealed 88,000 cases of racist incidents, some involving children as young as four, were recorded in primary and secondary schools between 2007 and 2011.

“This is a peaceful protest, yet I have had to call the police over threats I have received off the back of this,” she said.

“It’s all very well hearing parents have had no problems with their children, my experience is wildly different.

“It was the same when I was growing up.

"My son was taken to hospital with an injury and he has had to be home schooled.

“He was branded with disgusting language and when I raised the issue, I was accused of being threatening.

“It is about his experiences at the school, but no-one seems to care about that.

“The school could have nipped this in the bud with an apology and a promise they will look at how they treat this issue, but instead this is the route we have to take.”

The governing body of Holland Park Primary School declined to comment.