John Lennon was a "bully" and a "nuisance" during his school days, it has been claimed.

Tom Barry, a design and technology teacher at what is now known as The Calderstones School in Liverpool, has revealed that staff tried to "remove any trace of" the late Beatles musician after he left - even during the height of the Fab Four's fame during the 1960s.

Barry said: "When John left, he was that much of a nuisance and a bully and that much of a poor student the school staff didn't want to acknowledge that he ever went to school and removed any trace of him.

"He was never spoken about, he was never acknowledged through Beatlemania. Apparently, fans would come to the school gates and just be sent away because the school didn't want any connection to him."

The teacher continued: "They didn't want to idolise him and for students to think you can prat about and be a bit of a bully and still be successful."

Lennon attended the school - which was then known as Quarry Bank School - between 1952 and 1957 before he going to achieve global superstardom with The Beatles.

The star's misbehaviour at school has been well-documented in the past and detention sheets disclosed his "extremely cheeky" side when they were up for auction in 2013.

Reasons for punishment given by his teachers include "sabotage", "fighting in class" and "just no interest whatsoever".

It comes after Lennon's old school desk was discovered hidden away in the attic, where teachers are thought to have stored it so they didn't have to remember his time there.

The desk will now feature in a display at the Liverpool Beatles Museum along with other items from the Day Tripper band members' schooldays - including Lennon's enrolment lodger that was signed by his aunt.

Although the school previously refused to acknowledge its links to Lennon - who was shot dead in New York City in 1980 - it is now starting to offer tours of its site for fans of the Fab Four.

Meanwhile, Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman was denied parole for the 14th time last month.

Chapman fatally shot the singer outside his Manhattan apartment building in 1980 and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison the following year, but recently made a fresh bid for release.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision revealed the 70-year-old killer appeared before a parole board on 27 August but his submission was denied.