One of the country's top schools has launched an investigation after former footballer Fabrice Muamba said his son faced racist abuse in a school rugby game.

Mr Muamba tweeted that his 12-year-old son received monkey chants from opponents at Manchester Grammar School after scoring a try. "Racism is learnt; be careful what you are teaching your children," he said.

The school said it condemned racism and would take the “appropriate action”. In a statement, it added: "We are a diverse school with pupils from all backgrounds, and we take any allegations of racism incredibly seriously.

"Racism is abhorrent and we know the damage, distress and upset it causes. It is something we talk about regularly to all pupils." A spokesperson said that the school hoped to speak Mr Muamba and his family soon "to offer our support and address their concerns" after the incident during a match in Stockport.

Founded in 1515, Manchester Grammar School charges annual fees of £13,000 and includes notable former pupils such as Nobel Prize winner and chemist Professor John Polanyi, Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley and medical broadcaster Dr Rangan Chatterjee. After the racist murder of the African-American man George Floyd in the US last year, the school faced calls to improve its teaching of British colonialism from current and former pupils.

It then said that it would develop curriculum materials, which it would share with other schools for free. Mr Muamba is now a football coach after retiring as a player at the age of 24, when he collapsed on the pitch during an FA Cup quarter-final in 2012.

He survived a cardiac arrest when his heart stopped for 78 minutes, while playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur. The former England Under-21 midfielder, who arrived as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo at the age of 11, has since been involved in campaigns to get more defibrillators in public places.

It has not been disclosed which school his son attends.