Hyperactive children and those with attention-deficit disorders can now queue jump at theme parks because they cannot cope with the stress of waiting.

Tourist boards are offering the privilege so that they can skip the queue with their friends.

Teachers have criticised the scheme, saying that it undermines their efforts to encourage patience and it would be better for children with ADHD, attention deficit and hyperactive disorder, to learn how to wait.

Children with ADHD, which was recognised as a psychiatric condition 15 years ago, are given passes in most theme parks in the UK and many abroad if they can prove that they have the condition.

Andrea Bilbow, chief executive of the National Attention Deficity Disorder Information and Support Service, said that the scheme avoided tantrums.

“Children with ADHD are very impulsive and just can’t cope in a queue or when there is a delay in gratification,” she told the Times Edcuational Supplement.

“I know many primary schools let them go ahead at dinner time and it stops scenes, what’s the problem?”

Criticism of the tactic showed that teachers were ignorant of the condition, she added.

“We often see how this doesn’t work and parents then take cases to the high court.”

The Disability Discrimination Act puts a duty on attractions to accommodate the needs of all visitors.

Sufferers of ADHD have a 30 per cent “maturity lag” and do not start to catch up until after they reach about 26.

A spokeswoman for Thorpe Park in Surrey would not say how many people had applied for the special wristbands to avoid the queues.

“Any guest that can provide a letter [from the Department for Work and Pensions] or a letter from their doctor that describes their illness or disability and states that they cannot stand in a queue is provided with a priority wristband.

“Thorpe Park has no control over guests’ diagnosis, and if we are presented with the correct paperwork, we will provide our visitors with the relevant priority wristband.”

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