Sport-loving pupils at a King's Lynn school have written to MP Henry Bellingham in a bid to save vital funding which is under threat from the Government axe.

Around 30 youngsters at St Martha's RC School put pen to paper to explain how important the School Sports Partnership is and how much it has encouraged them to get involved with a sport. The scheme was earmarked to be scrapped to save money.

Head Aidan McGovern said a snap survey of one year group (10 to 11-year-olds) showed 87pc of the 120 pupils were actively involved in a sporting activity, a figure he said would be difficult to achieve without the partnership.

'Our children have taken part in a lot of events which have been organised through the partnership and have gone on to do really well as a result, including coming second in the county hockey finals and runners-up in the Eastern Counties tag rugby,' he said.

A 500,000-name petition has been sent to Downing Street from schools across the country calling to save the �162m partnership. The campaign has been backed by 70 athletes, including Olympians Darren Campbell and Denise Lewis in a bid to see a Government U-turn over the issue.

Education Minister Michael Gove had said the scheme was being axed because it failed to achieve the desired result, but Prime Minister David Cameron said last week that he would be looking carefully at the issue and new proposals were likely to result.

A network of 450 partnerships have been established around the country and in this area the scheme has seen a wide range of events and tournaments all designed to encourage children to become active,