Parents have blasted a school 's new water bottle policy as they must fork out £5 to replace the branded bottles if they ever get damaged or lost.
Wilsthorpe School in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, introduced the policy at the start of the academic year in an attempt to reduce single-use waste.
But if the new bottles, which are branded, get damaged or are lost, parents must pay £5 for a replacement - even though they got the initial ones for free.
One parent branded the rule "absolutely ridiculous" in a social media rant, Derbyshire Live reports.
They added: "Absolutely ridiculous. My daughter's (bottle) got knocked off the table and broken by another pupil [the] same day - no way I’ll be paying for a new one, don’t know how they can enforce it."
And another said: "Thought the rules were stopping branding to make it easier for parents to afford school clothes etc."
A third posted: "Families have enough worries (particularly money worries) at the moment, to be having to find £5 to replace a Wilsthorpe water bottle should something happen to it, especially as I suspect we all already have perfectly suitable ones in our cupboards at home."
Hard-up families continue to battle the cost of living crisis, with everything from food to rent prices going up lately.
But the school, which caters for more than 800 students, says the move will benefit their "welfare and wellbeing".
And a comment in the school's defence reads: "It's to have out in lessons, you can still have others for break and lunch, don't really see the problem. Fairly sure when I was at school you couldn't have any drink out on the desk, that's what breaks and dinners were for, or the walk between lessons. Does seem a waste of money though."
A message to parents at the start of the term from the school, which is run by the Two Counties Trust, said: "Every student has received a Wilsthorpe branded water bottle at the start of term. This is in order to reduce single-use plastic waste in school and to ensure students stay hydrated throughout the day, which we know supports learning and wellbeing.
"In addition, it directly supports students in Years 10-13 who are sitting mock or final exams, as exam boards insist on clear plastic bottles without printed labels. Students are free to bring an additional drinks bottle to school if they choose but, in classrooms, we ask that students use their Wilsthorpe bottles and that these only contain water."
The school, rated as Good by Ofsted after its last inspection, also stressed the change supports its "environmental mission of reducing single-use plastic".
A statement reads: "We have a commitment to the welfare and wellbeing of our students. We invested in free branded water bottles for each student to ensure they have access to water, as evidence shows it has a positive impact on learning.
"This also allows us to provide extra support to our students' environmental mission of reducing single-use plastic. Where replacement bottles are needed, the school will ensure they are further subsidised at minimal cost."
