The Thomas Deacon Academy never had any plans to build a playground for kids to play traditional school yard games.

Anne Kerrison, of Chestnut Avenue, Dogsthorpe, said her son Matthew (14) was upset when he was told he would not be able to play football with his friends at lunchtime.

She said: “He is devastated at the prospect of not being able to go out at lunchtime and play football with his friends.”

The news was broken to prospective pupils at a meeting at John Mansfield School, which is to close at the end of the summer term as part of the secondary schools review.

The academy’s principal, Dr Alan McMurdo, later explained the plans to parents at a meeting.

Mrs Kerrison said the meeting was told the school, which will have maths and science specialist status, would be run like a business, and pupils would be expected to behave like employees.

It was explained that a playground had never been in the plans for the £46 million school and the decision had been made for educational reasons, rather than as a cost cutting exercise.

Mr McMurdo defended the decision when quizzed by The Evening Telegraph and said: “I want the teachers teaching and the children learning at the school.

“Research has shown that if children concentrate on lessons throughout the day, then their work improves.

“If children are enjoying lessons, then there will be no need to go and run off steam outside.”

But he said the policy would be kept under constant review, especially for the younger pupils just joining the school.

Project manager for the academy Miles Delap also defended the decision and said: “This will not be like a traditional school, and we are setting it up like a business. You would not expect office workers to be allowed outside to run around.

“We are not stopping children from relaxing, but by keeping everyone inside, we think bullying and truancy will be vastly reduced.”

Mrs Kerrison, who has two other children, Katherine, (8), and Jonathan, (16), said pupils needed time to get some fresh air as well as the chance to exercise.

But Mr Delap said: “There will be a great emphasis on PE, so children will be able to let off steam in an organised way.”

City council spokesman Mike Lennox said the authority had “no concerns” about the physical fitness of pupils at the school.