A newspaper is backing a bid to secure a new secondary school to serve a massive housing estate in Bristol.

It has printed a cut-out form for readers to sign and send to education minister Charles Clarke to back the bid for a school at Bradley Stoke.

The Bristol Observer wants the local council’s controversial private finance initiative bid to succeed.

The school wants to attract private funding for the project so that other schools in the area don’t have to go without to pay for it – and has pledged to find the money itself if the bid fails.

And the Mayor of Bradley Stoke, Michael Collins, has also added his support to the Observer campaign.

He said: “This campaign is an opportunity for people to make a difference.”