Schoolchildren have written to a government minister calling for veterans’ medal rules to be changed.

Year five and six pupils at St Luke’s Primary School, in Tiptree, had been studying Second World War Arctic convoys as part of a Remembrance project.

They were shocked to learn how British navy veterans awarded the Ushakov Medal by the Russian Embassy are banned from accepting the honour by Foreign and Commonwealth Office rules, and decided to each write a letter urging foreign minister William Hague to change the rules.

The Standard reported last month how Burnham resident Bill Farley, 90, was one of those affected by the decision.

Mr Farley, of Welland Road, has praised the school for its efforts.

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