A Whetstone vicar has come out fighting after being accused of hitting a child at the school where he is chairman of governors.

The Rev Adrian Benjamin says the alleged assault on a pupil, at Christ Church in Warnham Road, North Finchley, two weeks ago, was an accident. Mr Benjamin a favourite of Margaret Thatcher while she was MP for Finchley claims he is the victim of a smear campaign by elements within Barnet Council.

The boy, aged 13, from Friern Barnet, was in a group of eight youngsters being taught drama by Mr Benjamin on November 13. "Some pupils had gone on stage and were playing with the curtain. The caretaker said it was being damaged," he said.

"I made for the winch and as I was going for it I struck him it was not deliberate."

The vicar says he apologised both to the boy, who was not injured, and to his father even offering to contact his insurers to pay for medical treatment.

But Barnet Council's child protection team launched an investigation this week and Mr Benjamin, who has been vicar at All Saints in Oakleigh Road North, Whetstone, for 25 years, will be interviewed by police.

Labour councillor Alison Moore, Barnet's cabinet member for education, said she was not aware of any official complaint against Mr Benjamin fron the boy's parents. However her statement said: "We are stunned by allegations that have been made about the conduct of the chairman of governors at Christ Church school.

"It is claimed he took a drama class unsupervised against clear guidance, that he assaulted one of the pupils and that he later apologised and even offered money to the boy as some sort of compensation."

It added: "These are shocking allegations by anyone's standards and it is in everyone's interest that the facts are established."

Mr Benjamin says he has the full support of governors following a meeting Tuesday night and will not resign. Former governors' chairman Brian Coleman, the Tory GLA member for Barnet and Camden, said: "This is an appalling attack on the Rev Benjamin and Councillor Moore should be absolutely ashamed of herself."