Girls assaulted at youth hostel

The girls were travelling with 50 other pupils and teachers

A man has been arrested after three British schoolgirls were assaulted while they slept at a youth hostel in western France.

The teenage girls were staying in the Pinede Youth Hostel in Saint-Brevin-les -Pins as part of a trip organised by Kingsbridge Community College in Devon.

French officials said a man obtained a room key from a hostel staff member and touched the girls on Sunday morning.

The school said it was an "extremely distressing" incident.

The girls were travelling with 50 other pupils and teachers and were staying in a four-berth room in the hostel.

The man had touched two of the girls' necks and a hand of the third, before a fourth girl screamed.

Psychological observation

Roger Pope, the principal at Kingsbridge, said staff from the college and the hostel had reacted immediately.

"This is an extremely distressing incident and the girls were shocked but thankfully unharmed.

"I have spoken to the parents of the girls involved and, in consultation with the students, we have decided they should continue their holiday."

The hostel is about 100 miles (160km) from Pleine-Fougeres, where 13-year-old Caroline Dickinson was raped and murdered in 1996.

The college said the school trip would continue as planned

In 2004 Francisco Arce Montes, then 54, a former waiter from northern Spain, was sentenced to 30 years for the murder.

John Dickinson, Caroline's father, said from his home in Cornwall that he was not prepared to comment on the incident in Saint-Brevin-les-Pins.

A 24-year-old French national was arrested on suspicion of sexual aggression and put under examination for sexual assault. He was released on bail after a court appearance, to remain under psychological observation.

The Mayor of Kingsbridge, Rufus Gilbert, who is also a governor of the college, said he was "absolutely shocked" at what had happened and said there would be a meeting of governors and staff when the pupils returned.

A Devon County Council spokesman said: "As a local education authority we will look at the circumstances with the college and we will learn lessons."