The chairman of Radlett Synagogue has complained to Yavneh College after pupils damaged three cubicles in the shul's ladies' toilets during a Shabbat morning service. The four girls, who were attending the barmitzvah of a fellow pupil, were identified through CCTV footage.

It is said they crammed into one cubicle, where they shoved and jostled one another, forcing doors off hinges and smashing partition walls.

At the end of service, Radlett chair Alex Pomerance told congregants that the girls' actions reflected poorly on their school, their parents and themselves.

"I was not impressed," he said afterwards. "This is not the first time we have had problems with Yavneh College pupils. They have been a perpetual thorn in our sides.

"I have had occasion to write to the Yavneh head in the past about the disruptive behaviour of their boys, in particular, who chatter and laugh throughout the service, move around the shul, climb over chairs and do not respond to requests for silence or respect."

Yavneh had blamed parents for the pupils' misbehaviour. But Mr Pomerance - who said he had written to Yavneh head Spencer Lewis - argued that it was "just as much the school's responsibility to teach their pupils some respect and decorum.

"I doubt if these kids would behave this way in a church or a mosque. Why do they think they can do it in synagogue?"

Mr Lewis said he could not comment as the letter had not arrived, but added: "We receive many positive comments from the community praising the behaviour of our pupils outside of school, so any negative comments are obviously most disappointing."

A parent of one of the girls has contacted the shul to offer a donation towards repairs, estimated at more than £850.