A Jewish history teacher has been suspended for "brainwashing" her pupils with too much information about the Holocaust.

Catherine Pederzoli, 58, was investigated by education ministry chiefs in France after accusations that she was obsessed with the Nazi gas chambers.

A report by the ministry has now accused her of lacking "distance, neutrality and secularism" in teaching about World War Two.

It also said she spent too much time organising trips for her teenage students to visit the death camps in Poland and the Czech Republic.

It added: "In teaching the Holocaust, Ms Pederzoli manipulated her pupils through a process of brain-washing."

The principle of secularism and neutrality in France is meant to protect the separation of Church and state.

The investigation was triggered by a visit to her school in Nancy, eastern France, by Education Minister Luc Chatel in July.

During the visit, several students staged a protest over the decision to cut in half the number of pupils allowed to travel on a trip to Auschwitz in Poland.

Ms Pederzoli was accused by fellow teachers of inciting the protest.

Her lawyer Christine Tadic said last week that Ms Pederzoli had been organising trips to concentration camps for the past 15 years, but that a change in the school's administration in 2007 had led to a "witch hunt" against her.

Ms Tadic added: "Had the teacher been Christian, no one would have accused her of brainwashing. It leads me ask if she is being blamed for being Jewish."

Ms Tadic said she had filed for an injunction and a court was due to rule on the matter within 15 days.