A MUSLIM teenager has blasted college bosses after a row over the veil covering her face.

Shawana Bilqes, 18, said she was told by a staff member at Burnley College she must remove her burka as she attempted to enrol on a higher education course.

The college said veils must be removed for ID pictures and during lessons for “unimpeded communication with students”.

But Shawana, who lives in the Daneshouse area of town, said she has been left “traumatised” by the incident and unwilling to enrol on a course at the Princess Way campus.

She said: “I had been to enrolment events at the college a few times already, but then I was at the desk and a female staff member approached me from nowhere and told me I could not wear the veil.

“She went on and on about it, and she was being very harsh.

“I was shocked at the way she spoke to me and I just felt completely humiliated.”

Shawana, who plans to train to become a doctor, said she was willing to compromise with education bosses by removing the burka for an ID picture and during lessons, but wanted to keep it on elsewhere in college grounds.

However, the incident has led the teenager, who is also a police cadet, to abandon plans to enrol on the course.

She added: “They asked me if I would remove my veil for an ID picture and, of course, I would.

“But I just wanted the staff member who spoke to me like that to respect my beliefs.

“I feel traumatised by the whole experience, and deprived of education.”

Burnley College principal John Smith said: “The highest standards of learning require unimpeded communication with students. This is not possible if the face is not fully visible.”

In 2006, Blackburn MP Jack Straw sparked a national debate after he described to the Lancashire Telegraph that he asks Muslim women at his constituency surgeries to remove their veils.