EDUCATION Secretary Michael Gove has once again pledged to look into the case of a mum with cancer fighting to keep her children together in school.

Michelle Amey, who is terminally ill, desperately wants her sons at the same school so that they can support each other in the face of her illness.

But Dorset County Council has flatly denied a place at Mudeford Junior School for six-year-old George to be alongside his brother Charlie, nine, blaming a lack of spaces.

It is the second time Michelle has faced a battle over school places.

George was only given a place at his current school Mudeford Infants when the secretary of state intervened, following the family’s appeal to Christchurch MP Chris Chope for help.

During a visit to Dorset on Friday, Mr Gove told the Echo he would once again take up the case.

He said: “I know Chris has been helping this family and I have had the opportunity to help them in the past.

“I will do everything I can, working with Chris, to help them again.

“Of course there are rules on class sizes, but there are exceptions to those rules.”

He added: “I will be having a close look at the decision and be in touch with Chris Chope and the family to see if there is anything I can do to help them.

“If we can try to make sure this family can stay together after everything mum is living through then it’s the least we can do.”

County councillor Lesley Dedman, who has also taken up the Ameys’ cause, said she had spoken to Mr Gove about the issue and he was ‘very personally concerned’ about Michelle’s situation.

“He’s put all the weight he can from his government office behind the Ameys’ request,” she said.

She was hopeful there could be a way of making an exception to the rules on compassionate grounds.

“I was very glad to have the opportunity to speak to him.

“It was very decent of him to listen to me,” she added.