A west Dorset headteacher has stressed that she is just being “responsible” after accusations of scaremongering ahead of a possible no-deal Brexit.

Jackie Shanks, head of Mountjoy School in Beaminster, sent a letter to parents saying the school had purchased an additional freezer in case of food shortages and that the school will also increase stocks of canned food and long shelf life products.

Ms Shanks, whose school caters for pupils aged between two to 19 with special needs, also urged parents to contact their GPs to ensure their children have enough medicine for the feared crisis.

And she said that her teaching staff will car share to work in the coming weeks in case of a fuel shortage brought about by Brexit.

Ms Shanks also warned of a possible increase in hate crime and civil unrest stemming from a no-deal Brexit that could affect her students.

The letter, that was issued to parents yesterday (Wednesday), provoked a backlash from people after it was shared on social media.

Claire Crowther posted: "Please don't encourage this. It's scaremongering and will end up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"People panic others in to believing there will be a shortage and then they create the shortage.

"When the weatherman said snow is on its way all three of the supermarkets in my town had no milk or bread by the end of the day.

Ryan Dustan said: “Nobody knows what is going to happen so it's just speculation and therefore scaremongering."

Nick Hollingsworth posted: "What absolute nonsense."

But others defended the school for being prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Anthony Murray posted: "A no deal Brexit will mean shortages of some foods. Nobody is going to starve but choice for short-life goods, vegetables, meats, flowers etc. won't be as easy.

"This isn't scaremongering."

Ms Shanks said the letter was sent to parents to tell them what the school was doing in response to a risk register made public by Dorset Council.

“Dorset council sent through a risk register for the event of a no-deal Brexit. It was sent to headteachers but is currently available on its website,” she said.

“So, as a responsible school, we looked at that and we passed relevant information on and what we would do to minimise and mitigate for any negative effects that were within our powers.

“Risks that are pertinent to the operation of Mountjoy School include potential medicine and food shortages alongside other things, so what we said, to address any of those potential shortages, we bought an additional freezer for school meals to cover short-term issues.

“What we said to the parents was they may want to contact their GP to make sure they do have enough medicines because as a responsible school, our children, some of them rely on medicines to stay alive.”

The school letter comes after documents relating to the government's Operation Yellowhammer were published to warn of possible riots, rises in food prices and reduced medical supplies if the UK were to leave the EU without a deal on October 31.