SCHOOL leaders made a formal complaint after children were provided with cold pizza and a jam doughnut for their school lunch.

Parents accompanying their children on a school trip were shocked at the standard of food provided by meals provider Chartwells.

Now staff at St Mary's First School in West Moors are waiting for a response to their complaint.

One parent, whose seven-year-old son attends the school, told the Daily Echo she was one of a number of people accompanying the children on a trip to another school to play cricket.

She said: "I have been concerned about the standard of the meals for some time but did not expect the packed lunch to be like that.

"It consisted of cold pizza, a jam doughnut and a little pack of raisins, all of which are full of sugar.

"I think the school staff were a bit embarrassed when the children opened their lunches in front of the parents."

The mum who does not wish to be named, added: "The meal choices are extremely poor nutritionally all the time and there are far too many meals served with chips and hardly any vegetables.

"I called the company that made them and they said a nutritionist is involved in all the meals - I can't imagine what sort of nutritionist thought pizza and a doughnut were a balanced lunch."

She said she is not blaming the school but thinks Chartwells should put less sugar in their meals.

"It must be very difficult to teach the children when they are as high as a kite on sugar in the afternoons. It's also going to cause health problems and make the children obese."

Chartwells hit the headlines four years ago when they failed to provide meals for hundreds of school children across the county.

A spokesman for Heath Academy Trust, which runs St Mary's First School, said: "The Chartwells contract to provide our schools with hot meals is procured through Dorset County Council in line with other Dorset state maintained schools.

"Children are only provided with a packed lunch from Chartwells on a few occasions in the year when they go on school trips. On this occasion a member of St Mary’s staff did give verbal feedback to Chartwells to say they were not entirely satisfied with the cold lunch that had been provided.

"Generally we are not aware of any dissatisfaction from parents with the service Chartwells provides us throughout the year. Our kitchen staff do, from time to time visit Chartwells, to give our feedback on the menus. If any parents do have concerns we would urge them to contact us."

A Chartwells spokesperson added: "We value feedback from children, parents, guardians and school staff on the food we serve and constantly enhance our offers in line with this.

"We’re committed to providing nutritious and tasty meals and will be working with Dorset County Council to review the packed lunch we offer to children when they go on school trips."