Anna Scher blocked from school return

Peace campaigner and drama teacher Anna Scher has lost her fight to return to the school she founded and that bears her name, it is understood.

Ms Scher, 59,who has hundreds of supporters, has been struggling to convince the Anna Scher Theatre's board she should return since she recovered from a depressive illness two years ago.

But it is today understood that at a meeting of the board of governors it was decided not to reinstate Ms Scher, who could not be contacted this afternoon.

A campaign group, Friends Of Anna Scher, was formed to back the influential Islington figure's efforts to reclaim a place at the school she ran for more than 30 years. Members include former pupils Pauline Quirke, Susan Tully and Linda Robson, who said: "I am shocked how the trustees have humiliated her and refused to take her back."