SCHOOLCHILDREN celebrating the end of the academic year left piles of rubbish, including bottles of alcohol, on a nature reserve.

The head teacher of Walney School said he was 'disappointed' to see the mess left behind by school leavers at North Walney nature reserve.

Images of the rubbish were shared on social media and abuse was hurled at the pupils, who had been 'named and shamed', according to school staff.

Walney School education advisor Lisa Corkill said: “Unfortunately, it has become a tradition for our school leavers to go to this area and leave rubbish everywhere.

“As a school, we forewarned all pupils to not make a mess, but a minority have let us down.

“Some pupils guilty of the rubbish had left their notepads along with the names on the site.

“As a result, the public have hurled abuse at some of these students, who have been named and shamed across Facebook.

“Two students have since apologised to the school about their actions.”

North Walney is a National Nature Reserve, which supports one fifth of the national population of the rare Natterjack Toads.

The news comes a year after a similar incident where teachers from Walney School were forced to clear up piles of schoolwork dumped at the natural beauty spot.

Walney School head teacher John Richardson said: “I was very disappointed that despite the messages given to both students and parents in advance of the school leaving date, our community have still been left with an unsightly mess.

“However, it is positive that both students and their families have worked positively with the school to put things right.

“My thanks go to those members of our community who alerted us to the situation, enabling the school to act swiftly.”

Cllr Helen Wall, spokeswoman for wildlife on Barrow Council, said: “I’ll give the pupils credit for owning up - caught or not.”

Police confirmed they were called to the North Walney area at 7pm on Monday to the report of antisocial behaviour.

Cumbria police and crime commissioner Peter McCall said: “The bottom line is littering is illegal.

“Across Barrow, there have been new projects created such as mini police and clean up groups.

“However, these groups are having to go out of their way to clean up the mess left by this minority of people.

“The best form of punishment is to make these litterers clean up their mess.”

Police have asked anyone with information to call police on 101, or email 101@cumbria.police.uk.