EIGHT children were expelled for physically attacking other pupils and six for assaulting an adult last year.

They were among 52 children expelled from Worcestershire schools in the academic year 2014/15, of which eight were primary school age and 44 were from secondary schools.

However, persistent disruptive behaviour was still the main cause of expulsions with 24 children in the county expelled for that reason.

The figures released by the Department for Education revealed suspensions were also often due to violence in schools.

Of the 482 suspensions for primary school pupils and 1,885 for secondary school pupils, 600 were due to children physically assaulting other children and 190 due to physical assaults on adults.

Marc Bayliss, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet member for children and families, said there was never an excuse for violence.

He said: "We need to make sure we continue to bear down on that issue.

"No-one should be in fear of violence going to school or as a teacher or support staff.

"They have a right to a safe working environment.

"We must make sure they are not being harmed by anyone.

"I will continue to work with officers to support schools to keep the numbers low and tackle any trends that emerge."

The figures also showed five of the children permanently expelled in Worcestershire had been verbally abusive or threatening towards an adult.

The other nine were expelled either for being verbally abusive towards other pupils, because of drugs or alcohol or for another unspecified reason.

The exact figures for each of those categories were not available because smaller numbers are suppressed to protect confidentiality.

No child was expelled from Worcestershire's special schools.

The figures were largely in line with those recorded the year before when 11 primary school children and 42 secondary school pupils were expelled.

In that year, eight were excluded for physical attacks on pupils, seven for assaults on adults and 27 for being persistently disruptive.

With suspensions in 2014/15, 590 were down to persistent disruptive behaviour while 480 was down to verbal abuse or threatening behaviour towards adults.

100 were because of verbal abuse or threatening behaviour to other pupils.

50 suspensions were due to bullying - an increase from 28 the year before and a figure Coun Bayliss said he would be keeping his eye on.

50 were because of racist abuse and 20 due to sexual misconduct.

50 were drug and alcohol related, 40 were because of damage and 30 due to theft.

310 suspensions were down to unspecified reasons.

There were 137 suspensions during the year for pupils from special schools.

In comparison, in 2013/14, there were 433 suspensions among primary school children, 1,772 for secondary school pupils and 147 for special school pupils.

Coun Bayliss said: "I'm glad to see the numbers are stable.

"I'd like to see them lower.

"Exclusions disrupt the education of children.

"It's not in their interests but as a last resort schools need to have this in their armoury.

"I hope schools will continue to use it sparingly and I'm confident that is the case."