MALVERN College is one of 50 top public schools accused this week of fee fixing by the Office of Fair Trading.

In a preliminary report, the school was found guilty of exchanging financial information with other public schools leading to a rise in fees.

The schools involved have until March to appeal the claim before the Office of Fair Trading makes its final ruling.

Schools could potentially face fines of up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover, but the OFT has said any penalty imposed is likely to be at the lower end of the scale.

Headteacher Hugh Carson said he thought the ruling "very suspect."

Malvern College spokesman David Gunn said the Office of Fair Trading had conceded that nothing had been done deliberately but was the result of bursars not being aware of new legislation. He said any fine was unlikely to affect fees.