Boy, 11, came to school dressed as Christian Grey

MANCHESTER, England, March 6 (UPI) -- A British mother said her 11-year-old son was left out of his school's World Book Day photos when he dressed as Fifty Shades of Grey character Christian Grey.

Nicola Scholes, a teacher, said her son, Liam, 11, dressed in a gray suit Thursday and carried cable ties and an eye mask to Sale High School outside of Manchester, England.

Scholes said students and teachers were dressed in costumes for World Book Day, but school officials deemed Liam's costume "inappropriate" and refused to allow him to pose for photos with his classmates.

"It has been massively blown out of proportion. It was meant as a laugh and tongue-in-cheek," Scholes told the BBC of her son's costume.

She said she was shocked to find officials apparently found it "appropriate for a teacher to dress up as a serial killer" and "acceptable for kids to dress up as people that kill others" and "come in with [toy] guns."

"Liam was advised to dress as James Bond... but [he] was a promiscuous character who kills people," she said.

Scholes told the Manchester Evening News she decided to "agree to disagree" with school officials.

Lynn Nicholls, headteacher of Sale high school, told The Guardian her decision "reflected the school's high standards in terms of student behavior, welfare and safeguarding."

"The student was not excluded from taking part in any of the activities as has been wrongly reported," she said. "His costume was modified and he was then able to fully participate and enjoy the day with his peers."