A foster girl is celebrating after Wrexham Council has changed its mind over blocking her chance to study at a top public school.

Suzanne Turley won a coveted scholorship to Gordonstoun to study drama but Wrexham Council at first insisted that her educational needs could be adequately met locally.

The case had received widespread coverage in the national media when the council did a U-turn on its original decision providing "a number of appropriate safeguards" could be met.

The council had been facing mounting criticism from various charities concerned with the welfare of children in care and the Children's Commissioner for Wales, Peter Clarke, who described the council's position as perverse.

Sixteen-year-old Suzanne has been living with foster carers after her relationship with her own parents broke down.

She approached the prestigious Scottish boarding school for one of its 40 assisted places because its excellent reputation for drama.

Her grandparents, Ida and John Turley, offered to put their £20,000 life savings towards the £38,000 cost of the two-year course at the £18,000-a-year school which boasts the Prince of Wales among its famour old boys.

But it emerged at the weekend that a mystery benefactor has offered to meet the full cost of her fees.

Suzanne's lawyer, Michael Imperato, suggested that the council had no choice but to back down because of its duty to act in the teenager's best interest in the way good biological parents would do.

He told the Western Mail: "It's difficult to imagine that any parent in this situation would do anything other than send their child to Gordonstoun if they were able. That's why it was so difficult to imagine how they came to their original decision that she should not go there.

"The authority seemed to think sending her to Scotland would have a destabilising influence and that the facilities in Wrexham were good enough. If it was an obscure place nobody had heard of that would be fair enough, but this is Gordonstoun."

Wrexham council's director of personal and social services, Malcolm Russell, said the council had changed its mind after listening to the "strong views" of Suzanne and her grandparents.

He said in a statement: "Although we believe that satisfactory provision both for her education and care can be made in Wrexham, we recognise Suzanne's views and that her grandparents and Gordonstoun are very keen for her to attend that school.

"We have therefore agreed to respond to the views expressed by agreeing to her placement at Gordonstoun provided that a number of appropriate safeguards can be put in place."

Suzanne is reportedly delighted with the decision but remains critical of the way she was treated.

She told the Daily Telegraph: "I am very disappointed that it had to come to this in the first place. The way they have treated me is disgraceful. It is odd that everyone else could see the sense in me going to Gordonstoun but they could not."

She said the council had been putting up barriers to her going for nine months which had been "very distracting and stressful" during her GCSEs.

Gordonstoun's director of development Angela Harkness said they were looking forward to producing a star.

She said the male benefactor, who is not an old boy of the school and who wants to remain anonymous, had been touched by Suzanne's fight.

The teenager is now due to start at the school in September provided she gets the five GCSEs she needs at grade C or better.

See also:

Children's champion ready to step in on Gordonstoun saga

Is Gordonstoun saga about ticking boxes?

Council blocks foster girl's chance to attend public school