A bemused Nigel Grint, father of the star, told the Mercury:

"It's all a bit of a mystery — I don't know where it's come from. He left the school last summer after completing his GCSEs, and even when he was there, there were never any strict stipulations about that [signing autographs]. It's a bit bizarre."

Rupert's agent, Chris Harris, said:

"It always amazes us when we get these stories, but it's the timing of this one that's really strange. We weren't contacted by The Sun. I can only assume they were rummaging around for stories and found this one in their files. It's not true anyway - he spent very little time at the school because he was filming so often. So there was never a ban."

He said Rupert was "slightly surprised" by the story.

Richard Hale headteacher Steve Neate said: "Rupert had an untroubled time here because the boys respected his privacy. The headteacher at the time, Dumbledore [Mike] James, made an informal request to the boys in assembly ahead of Rupert coming back from filming just to give him space and treat him normally.

"There were no written rules about it and there wasn't any case of detentions being given because the boys showed good sense. Once Rupert was in school, he blended in. When I came to the school it was hard to pick him out because he didn't have a big following at break or lunchtimes.

"We do follow his progress, but we were amazed to see our name in the press again. There were a few wry smiles here about how out of date their story was."