Schoolgirl-trousers row goes to courts

A court will be asked to rule who wears the trousers in British schools after a student claimed dress codes amounted to sexual discrimination.

Jo Hale, 14, claims the skirt she has to wear as part of her uniform is cold in the winter and could stop her running away in an emergency.

Her mother, Claire, a professor at Leeds University, has tried in vain for two years to persuade the school in Gateshead, in the northeast of England, to allow girls to wear trousers.

The Equal Opportunities Commission has now weighed in to take the case to court.

'If she was allowed to wear trousers it would keep her warm. We are on the eve of a new millennium and no one should be saying to girls that trousers are not part of school uniform,' Professor Hale told the BBC.

'It is an important issue. When children go to school they should be comfortable and they should not be sitting around feeling cold.' The Sex Discrimination Act in Britain says it is perfectly acceptable for different clothes to be stipulated for men and women provided it does not disadvantage them.