Three people have been handed a legal bill for tweeting seemingly defamatory statements about a school and its staff.
Hundreds of tweets about The Crypt School in Gloucestershire were published by pupils past and present using the hashtag #controversialcryptmoments.
One pupil has since been suspended and three individuals, believed to be former pupils at the grammar school have been sent a letter demanding they pay the bill.
One tweet accused a teacher of wanting two schoolboys to kiss in front of her while another called the school a "prison".
Richard James, chairman of the school's governors, said: "The board of governors of The Crypt School view the use of social media to insult, abuse, bully or defame a student, a member of staff or the school with the utmost seriousness.
"We will do whatever it takes to ensure people's reputations, and make sure people are not bullied in this way."
But there has since been outrage on the twittersphere over the schools actions with one student saying he had lost his vice-captaincy for tweeting on the thread. One Gloucester-based Twitter user tweeted:
While another, @MattCainn, said: "Stuff we were all saying i'm not sure why those 3 specifically [received letters], i'm waiting for my letter haha".
Read some of the tweets about the school below:
Correction: We previously stated the school was fee-paying but we have now amended this.
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The Huffington Post UK | By Lucy Sherriff Posted: 14/03/2012 15:06 Updated: 15/03/2012 09:53