IT WAS third time lucky for brave bully victim Joanne Geldart who wrote three letters pleading for a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair before she got her wish.

The schoolgirl finally met the Premier in his Sedgefield constituency, in County Dur-ham, to describe a decade of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of bullies.

Accompanied by her mother Ann and headteacher Steve Gater, of Ferryhill Comprehensive School, which Joanne attends, she urged Mr Blair to consider appointing a Children's Commissioner in the half-hour surgery on Saturday.

Joanne was over-awed at meeting Mr Blair after the event and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"I was a bit nervous about meeting him, but it was all right. We talked about bullying and why I want a children's commissioner," said Joanne, 14, from Ferryhill, County Durham.

Joanne said Mr Blair promised to send her information on the existing bodies for children's rights and asked her to get back to him with her opinions.

"He said there were already people who helped children, but I told him that England needed a commissioner and someone to speak up for children."

Joanne took her plea for a Children's Commissioner, which is part of a NSPCC campaign, to Number 10 in person last month, after two previous requests for meeting Mr Blair were turned down.

Joanne admitted her role as figurehead for the NSPCC had helped conquer her own dem-ons and said the bullying had stopped since she made her story public earlier this year.

Mrs Geldart said she felt incredibly proud of her daughter, who had gained the confidence to speak-out about her years of torment, and said the meeting had been positive.

"Mr Blair agreed that there should be a body representing and protecting children, but he didn't quite see how one person could deal with everything. We will be looking at the information that comes from the Government then thinking about the specifics of what a commissioner would do," she said.

The children's charity the NSPCC praised Joanne for persuading Mr Blair to meet her. A spokesman said: "Joanne's courage and determination has paid off. She is a spokesperson for her generation. She has forced Mr Blair to listen to her plea for a children's commissioner in England.

"Now, the Prime Minister should listen to children across the country who also care passionately about the issue. The fact that Joanne has had to fight really hard to get heard is proof enough that children need their own champion to stand up for them and give them a say."

Wales has a children's commissioner and Scotland and Northern Ireland are planning to create similar posts.

Joanne's touching story attracted national attention earlier this year when she revealed the full extent of her bullying ordeal exclusively to The Northern Echo.