A school pupil who claims to be 15 but looks 40 and has a receding hairline has disappeared from classes after October half-term, parents claimed today.

Parents at the school in Coventry previously expressed doubts about the asylum-seeking student, who is said to have moved to the UK from Gambia, West Africa. 

The Home Office launched an 'urgent investigation' into the matter after the city council wrote to parents to reassure them about the situation.