The High Court in London has rejected an application by a group of infected blood scandal victims who attended Treloar’s in Alton to bring a Group Litigation Order for damages against the school.

Des Collins, senior partner of Collins Solicitors, who advised the 36 claimants, said on March 11: "We are surprised and disappointed by today's decision and we intend to appeal it.

“It cannot be right that the treatment of former pupils as guinea pigs by Treloar's in the 70s and 80s goes without sanction.

“Treloar's should not breathe a sigh of relief just yet since my clients remain determined to hold the school to account for the wrongs of the past."

The Treloar's boys said they would not be commenting further.

The decision was made by The Senior Master at the High Court following a one-day permission hearing on February 26.

In the wake of that hearing, Treloar’s had expressed its view that its former pupils’ claim should follow the same path as those of others affected.

A Treloar’s spokesperson said: “While we fully sympathise with our former students’ campaign, we firmly believe that the best route to receive timely and substantial recompense is via the government compensation scheme.

“We urge the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to pay the levels of compensation that have already been set as soon as possible.”

The claimants are haemophiliac former pupils of Treloar’s - including Gary Webster, Adrian Goodyear, Steve Nicholls and Richard Warwick - and the families of some of the 72 pupils who died following flawed and allegedly unlawful treatment at Treloar’s in the 1970s and 1980s.

The victims were infected with viruses including Hepatitis A, B and C, and HIV, as a result of receiving contaminated Factor VIII and Factor IX based blood products as haemophilia treatment at an NHS clinic on the school site.