Crown Primary pupils had been due to take a five-day trip to Craggan Outdoor Centre, near Aviemore, involving activities such as climbing, kayaking and rafting.

An alternative three-day trip to Glasgow visiting museums and art galleries was also planned.

However, the local authority said it had "no option" but to call off both excursions because of the complexities of legislation governing disability discrimination.

It follows a complaint by the parents of a pupil who has a severe physical disability.

It is understood they accused the authority of breaching disability discrimination laws because neither of the trips would have been appropriate for their child.

The move has angered other parents whose children will miss out and they have written to the council's education department, local councillors and MP Danny Alexander, who yesterday criticised the council over its actions.

"It seems to me there is a seriously overzealous interpretation of the law," said the Lib-Dem MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.

"From the parents who told me, it seems clear the school has made every effort to make reasonable adjustments for their trip to accommodate the needs of this pupil and having done that have met their obligations in law.

"I do not think they are under any threat of legal action.

"It is disappointing to say the least to cancel the trip for all pupils because of the concerns of one particular set of parents."

The politician has since taken the matter to the Equality and Human Rights Commission - the body which has the job of overseeing legislation on disability.

"I have asked them for their legal interpretation of the situation," he explained.

Crown Primary School where two planned trips have been cancelled. Iona Spence

"I have not yet had a response but I'm hoping it will agree with me and that will give the council sufficient legal comfort to allow the trips to go ahead."

Yesterday, the commission was unable to comment on matters at Crown Primary but advised, when planning and conducting trips, schools must not treat a disabled student less favourably than others or fail to make reasonable adjustments to prevent them being placed at a substantial disadvantage.

"To do so amounts to discrimination," said a spokeswoman.

"The reasonable adjustments duty requires schools to think ahead, anticipate the barriers that disabled pupils may face when attending a school trip and remove or minimise them before the disabled pupil is placed at a substantial disadvantage."

She added the law was not cut and dry.

Inverness Provost Jimmy Gray believes the school has made all reasonable effort to try and include all pupils in the trips.

However, he refused to be drawn on whether the council had taken the easy option of cancelling the outings to avoid legal action saying: "I do not want to be judgemental on this situation.

"I know the school has worked extremely hard to include all children and they have a good track record of that. At times, however, people come under a lot of pressure."

In response to letters from concerned parents, Hugh Fraser, the council's director of education services, apologised for cancelling the trips. "In the circumstances, however, there was no other option," he said.

"Although the school had made great efforts to accommodate the varying needs of the pupils who were eligible to attend the outings and had gone as far as offering a choice, the complexities inherent in the principle of accessibility as considered by the council's legal officers did not allow for any course of action other than cancellation."

A council spokeswoman added that efforts would be made in the new year to provide an appropriate excursion for all children.

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