TONY and Cherie Blair have done a remarkable job in protecting their children from the limelight and they are to be applauded for it.

If one of the Prime Minister's children walked down the street, few people would notice. That is a tribute to their parents' determination to ensure their childhood is as happy, ordinary and private as possible under their extraordinary circumstances.

Yet there is a boundary of common sense to be drawn, and I believe it was crossed over the weekend with the heavy-handed way 10 Downing Street initially reacted to the publication in The Northern Echo of a picture of baby Leo, taken by a teacher from St John's RC Comprehensive School at Bishop Auckland.

The teacher was rebuked by a Number 10 aide, and The Northern Echo's decision to publish the photograph was condemned. A warning was issued to the national media that the photograph should not be reproduced.

This was the chain of events:

The picture was submitted for the School Report page published in The Northern Echo each week.

We considered it a lovely story because a local school had scooped the world's media by obtaining the first picture of Leo at a public engagement.

It was my decision to publish the picture on the front page and to give full credit to the school by using a logo stating: "WORLD EXCLUSIVE - by St John's RC Comprehensive School."

The picture and accompanying story were presented in a fun way. No harm was meant and neither the school nor The Northern Echo sought to make any financial gain.

Nevertheless, a stern statement from Number 10 on Saturday morning said the Blairs had not consented to publication.

It is not easy to obtain the personal consent of Mr or Mrs Blair but The Northern Echo did contact the Prime Minister's office and was given the following quote: "This was Leo's first visit to the North-East and there were no other public appearances. I am not surprised the children were charmed by him. He is a beautiful baby."

At no point were we warned that we were about to incur the wrath of Number 10 by publishing the picture.

This was not a picture taken with a long lens over a garden fence or during a family holiday. It was taken by teacher Andria Fannon while pupils cooed at baby Leo in the presence of Mrs Blair during a public event - a Prince's Trust award ceremony at Durham County Cricket Club.

On Saturday, the world went mad. I was contacted at home throughout the day by national newspapers and radio stations. I was interviewed in my garden by a camera crew for ITN national news and ITV regional news, and a Sky News team tracked me down to a friend's barbecue in School Aycliffe for a live bulletin.

Being interviewed on live TV is never easy, but it's a damn sight more difficult when you have an audience of family and friends holding chicken drumsticks and glasses of wine.

Publicist Max Clifford was even dragged in to suggest that this episode might give the paparazzi new ideas to use children to take their photos for them. Really? By Saturday evening, 10 Downing Street had softened its position and put out another statement, this time saying "it was understandable that The Northern Echo had published the photo", but that the Blairs were anxious to avoid a market developing for 'snatched' baby pictures.

Someone somewhere had apparently sensed the growing feeling that Number 10 had used a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The backtracking thankfully continued last night.

I honestly believe that it was the over-reaction which transformed the story into an international talking point. Had Number 10's second statement been its first, the fuss would have been nowhere near as great.

I sympathise with the concern about a market developing for pictures of Leo.

That is why we made it clear to a freelance agency which obtained the picture that it was the copyright of the school and that permission had to be given by the school before it could be syndicated.

Following the warning from Number 10, no British Sunday newspapers published the picture but if any money is made, I believe it should be donated to a children's charity. That is certainly the wish of the school.

In terms of the wider picture, had Number 10 been a little more considered, they might have realised that this was, in fact, a golden opportunity to take some of the the heat out of the interest in Baby Blair.

His "first public engagement" would have been out of the way without a media scrum and with an enormous boost for a local school.

After all, Mr Blair was the Prime Minister who made his priority "education, education, education".

As it is, we are left with the uncomfortable feeling that this is another example of a Government machine obsessed with news management and in danger of being remembered for its reputation for "spin" rather than the many good things it has done.

Come the General Election, politicians of all colours will be encouraged to hit the streets and check cameras are pointing in their direction before kissing as many babies as possible in the scramble for votes.

Yet Number 10 gets all hot and bothered over a harmless photograph of the Prime Minister's baby, taken by a school party at a public event.

Privacy is clearly an important issue and The Northern Echo will, as always, continue to abide by the Press Complaints Commssion guidelines.

But isn't there a danger that the balance is shifting from one extreme to the other?