The trustees of a Higham private school will meet with the Charity Commission next month over allegations of financial impropriety levelled at its head teacher.

Gad’s Hill headteacher David Craggs has been accused by a former chairman of governors at the school, John Melville, of giving himself a 381 per cent pay rise over 11 years.

A 2012 report revealed by Mr Melville also shows Mr Craggs made more than 20 purchases on school bank cards which governors may not have approved.

The commission, which oversees the school because of its charitable status, has now received a response from trustees to "serious" concerns it has raised over the alleged misappropriation of funds.

It will meet with trustees in September before deciding whether to take any action against the school in Gad’s Hill Place, where Charles Dickens lived for the last 14 years of his life.