A SCHOOLGIRL has had plastic surgery on the NHS to save her from playground bullies said to have taunted her about her big ears.

It is claimed her tormentors turned Brooke Wright, 13, from a happy child into a suicide risk.

Her GP was so concerned he referred Brooke for surgery.

Now, after an operation to pin her ears back, Brooke has returned to school.

It took four months of verbal and physical abuse at school before Brooke finally broke down and confided in her mother, Susan, 37.

She said complaints to St Mary's School, Newcastle, were rebuked or ignored.

Family doctor Michael Woolley took Brooke's case so seriously he referred her to a plastic surgeon immediately.

Within two months of seeing Dr Woolley, at Heaton Medical Centre, Brooke, then 12, had the operation at Newcastle General Hospital.

"The comments made me feel horrible," recalls Brooke, at the family home in the Walker area of the city.

Susan, who also has a son aged 15, said: "To hear Brooke crying to me about what she had been going through was just heartbreaking.

"She had kept it to herself all that time, which was so brave."

A spokesman for the school said: "We treat bullying very seriously. We have initiatives in place to tackle it and it is made very clear to students this behaviour is not acceptable. In our recent Ofsted report, inspectors noted students felt complaints about bullying were dealt with effectively."

A Newcastle City Council spokeswoman said: "We, with all city schools, take bullying very seriously and have strategies in place to tackle it."