Education officials have come under fire for saying that teachers who failed to make “reasonable efforts” to get to work in the snow last week should have their pay docked.

After the first day of snow, when hundreds of schools in Leicestershire were forced to close, the county council wrote to governors, saying that action should be taken against teachers who had not made sufficient effort to get to work. This was in order to “minimise disruption in future”.

“Failure to attend work without making reasonable efforts should result in employees being expected to take unpaid leave or make the time up,” the letter said.

It provoked an angry reaction from teaching unions.

Tony Pearce, NUT regional officer, said: “There has to be a degree of trust, and if that trust isn’t there it’s going to lead to all sorts of problems.”

“We agree that teachers should make reasonable efforts to attend school, but where there are genuine problems that should be accepted and teachers should be paid.”

A council spokeswoman said the letter had been sent following complaints from parents that schools should have remained open.