A 14-year-old boy has had counselling after a Twickenham Academy teacher called him a "monkey" in front of his classmates.

Shantelle Addison, 36, said her son Raheem was left "humiliated" by science teacher Marcel van den Heuvel, 53, and is threatening legal action.

Police arrested and questioned the teacher but Crown Prosection lawyers decided not to pursue a conviction, leading to the case being dropped.

Mrs Addison told the Evening Standard: "This has impacted on Raheem greatly and I will be escalating my complaint to the Department for Education and I'm currently seeking legal advice.

"This sort of thing should not be taking place in the 21st century.

"My son has become withdrawn and now has no trust in teachers." Science teacher Mr van den Heuvel, who resigned from the school last week, allegedly told Raheem that his black gloves made him "look like a monkey".

Mrs Addison added: "Raheem told me the whole class was shocked by the remarks by the teacher, who found it funny and later laughed about the incident with another teacher.

"I also spoke to parents of pupils in my son's class and they were outraged."

A school disciplinary panel ruled the teacher must apologise to Mrs Addison and her son in November but she alleges that it never happened.

The teacher alleged he did not know "monkey" was a racist word.

Twickenham Academy principal Tracy Ward said the allegations were "thoroughly investigated immediately and the teacher is no longer with us".

The school said it does "not tolerate racist or any other form of discrimination".

However, the school does still list the teacher on its website as a member of its senior leadership team.