A couple in the UK were arrested in front of their young daughter and locked in a police cell for 11 hours after complaining about her primary school on a WhatsApp group, The Mirror reports.

Six police officers descended on the home of Maxie Allen and his partner Rosalind Levine and arrested the pair on suspicion of harassment and malicious communications in front of their "terrified" three-year-old Francesa.

After a five-week probe, Hertfordshire Constabulary dropped the charges against them.

Allen, a Times Radio producer, branded the actions of police "dystopian" and a "massive overreach", and accused Cowley Hill Primary School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, of trying to "silence awkward parents."

The couple said they hadn't been on the school’s premises since July, and that police failed to clarify how their actions met the threshold for the accusations against them.

The dispute began in May 2024, six months after the school’s principal announced his retirement.

Allen, a former governor, raised concerns about the lack of an open recruitment process for a new principal. His request for a meeting to discuss the issue went unanswered.

Shortly after, Jackie Spriggs, the chairman of governors, informed parents that "inflammatory and defamatory" comments had been circulating on social media and warned the school would take action against anyone causing "disharmony.”

Allen and Levine were later banned from the school for allegedly "casting aspersions" on Spriggs.

They claim they were also barred from attending important events, including a parents’ evening for their daughter Sascha, 9, and her Christmas performance. The couple had been emailing the school to address Sascha’s needs, as she is neurodivergent, has epilepsy, and is registered as disabled. The situation escalated on January 29, when the couple were arrested.

Cowley Hill Primary said it sought advice from police after a "high volume of direct correspondence and public social media posts" that had become "upsetting for staff, parents and governors.”