Allegations about one of the schools affected by claims of a Trojan Horse takeover plot were partly fuelled by "plain old Islamophobia", it has been suggested.

Lee Donaghy, assistant principal of Park View School in Birmingham told a cross-party group of MPs that he believed that prejudice was behind the allegations facing the school.

Park View, part of the Park View Educational Trust, was one of five Birmingham schools placed into special measures by Ofsted following inspections as part of investigations into the alleged plot by hardline Muslims to take over schools in the city.

During an evidence of the Commons home affairs select committee, chairman Keith Vaz asked Mr Donaghy why there had been rumours about the running of Park View School and where they had come from.

He replied: "I think there are various different things. One is just plain old Islamophobia."

Mr Donaghy added: "So either people are deliberately twisting things that have happened or casting aspersions that there is somehow no difference between a Muslim and a terrorist, an extremist.

"I think perhaps unwitting as well, ignorance, people who don't understand the Muslim way of life, the things Muslims do, the things they believe."

Mr Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East asked Mr Donaghy: "You're telling this committee very clearly that this is not about extremism or promoting extremism in schools, it's not even about long-term grooming of children to become extremists in the future, this is old fashioned prejudice?"

Mr Donaghy told him: "I think that's part of it, yes."

The school leader went on to say that the main concern of those involved in running the school over the last 20 years has been the achievement of pupils.

Mr Donaghy told the committee that there was no evidence of extremism at Park View, insisting that any claims or issues brought to the school's leadership team would be fully investigated and action taken where necessary.

He also told the cross-party group of MPs that Park View School could have done more to vet Australian firebrand preacher Sheikh Shady Al-Suleiman, who addressed pupils at the end of last year, giving a talk about individual responsibility and time-keeping.

An Education Funding Agency report into PVET, published earlier this month, described the invitation to the preacher by the school as "inappropriate", noting that "he is known to have previously extolled extremist views" including expressing support for the Afghan Taliban.

Mr Donaghy said that Sheikh Shady Al-Suleiman had been recommended to speak by a member of staff, adding that the preacher had been given permission by the Home Office to enter the country "dozens of times" in the last 10 years, so he was not a "person of concern".

"At the point where he came and spoke to our pupils we were not aware of him having expressed any extreme views."

Claims had later emerged that he had expressed extremist views, Mr Donaghy said, and these views attributed to him are "clearly unacceptable".

"There's absolutely no way that we would have invited him in had we known that he had said these things," Mr Donaghy said.

"Clearly, we could have done more to vet him, but we did vet him."

Councillor Brigid Jones, cabinet member for children and families at Birmingham City Council told the committee that she had not yet seen any direct evidence of extremism in the city's schools, although she added that two other investigations, by the city council and the Department for Education had not yet reported back.