A BATTLING Evesham mum campaigning for increased school funding for Worcestershire - first highlighted in the Journal - has been interviewed for one of the BBC's flagship political programmes.

A television crew from BBC1's The Politics Show visited Helen Donovan's St Margaret's Road home to film her as she prepared daughters Rachel and Sarah for school.

Mrs Donovan was later interviewed at her children's St Mary's Primary School, together with the school's head teacher, Bryan McSharry, yesterday.

The television crew's visit was prompted by the campaign bandwagon Mrs Donovan got rolling just three months ago, after becoming frustrated at what she considered a poor deal for Worcestershire in education funding.

Appealing to other parents throughout the county, she has been inundated with letters and petitions supporting her campaign to give pupils' parents a platform to demand more money for schools.

Sunday's edition of The Politics Show, at 12 noon, will highlight the wrangle between the Government and teachers' leaders over the funding issue and show the interviews recorded with Mrs Donovan and Mr McSharry.

Mrs Donovan expressed her dissatisfaction over the level of cash allocated per head of pupils in Worcestershire, compared with other counties.

She saw the BBC's interest as a positive way to highlight the issue, explaining: "It's vital to keep the spotlight on it; I think it's crucial to keep it in the news."

Mr McSharry, whose school has 166 pupils and seven teachers, said: "It brings the issue more and more into the public domain."

Funding per pupil in Worcestershire had grown 39 per cent in cash terms - from £2,380 in 1997-98 to £3,300 in 2003-04 - compared to a national average of 47 per cent - from £2,510 to £3,690.