SCHOOLS in Dunblane will not formally observe the tenth anniversary of the classroom massacre.

In letters to families, headteachers of its four schools have asked that the occasion, on March 13, be commemorated privately. Joy McFarlane, head of Dunblane primary, where the tragedy occurred, and the other heads say: "We understand that the majority of the community want to mark this anniversary privately . . . we wish to respect this by endeavouring to have as normal a school day as possible."

The document, also signed by the head of Dunblane high school, where most of the survivors are now pupils, was issued after discussions with Stirling Council, the police and the local community.

The mother of Thomas Hamilton, who shot dead 16 children and their teacher, has also spoken of how she cannot bring herself to hate him.

Agnes Watt, 73, said: "I think about him every day, I just still can't get my head around what happened. To me he is still just our Tommy and I would never say that I hate him. I am his mother and there will always be a bond of love there, no matter what."

Ministers, meanwhile, have been accused of an "abject failure" to crack down on the number of firearms in circulation.

Tories have joined Labour MPs, gun-control campaigners and peers in condemning the government over the National Firearms Register promised after Dunblane, but which will not be delivered for at least a further year.

A Conservative spokesman said: "This is an astonishing delay which displays at best a lack of commitment and sensitivity, and at worst an inability to understand the significance of the horrible events."

A book funded by pro-gun campaigners that challenges the firearms ban, introduced in the wake of the tragedy, was condemned yesterday.

Dunblane Unburied was written by Sandra Uttley, expartner of Dr Mick North, an anti-gun campaigner whose daughter, Sophie, five, died in the massacre. It has been funded by the Sportsman's Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and includes allegations of a cover-up involving senior police officers and legal figures about their links with Hamilton.

Charlie Clydesdale, whose daughter, Victoria, five, was killed, called the decision to let a shooting group fund the book "extreme bad taste".