Devon County Council is calling on the new minister for the South West, Ben Bradshaw, to press for "fair funding" for local schools.

The authority is sending Mr Bradshaw a dossier detailing how it feels the current funding formula is weighed against Devon and ensures that local schools receive less cash than elsewhere.

And it is being copied to every Devon MP.

According to Devon County Council, every one of Devon's primary and secondary pupils receives £337 less a year than the national average.

John Smith, Devon County Council: "We are not asking for Devon to be treated as a special case. We are calling for Devon to be treated fairly and equably."

That's a shortfall of almost £32m for Devon's schools every year.

It means Devon is 144th out of 150 local authorities in terms of government funding, the county council said.

For an average secondary school with 1,000 students, it is the equivalent of 10 extra teachers, the council claimed.

John Smith, Devon's deputy leader and executive member for children's services, said: "We are not asking for Devon to be treated as a special case. We are calling for Devon to be treated fairly and equably.

"The biggest cost of running a school is staff and both teachers and support staff have a national pay scale.

"Energy, books and equipment all cost roughly the same in Devon as anywhere else. So while we recognise some urban areas need extra money to cope with the large scale deprivation they suffer, we don't think the government recognises the problems of rural areas sufficiently.

"I am sure Mr Bradshaw will recognise the strength of this case and I would hope that securing action from the government on fair funding for schools would be one of his top priorities in his new role as champion for the South West and its people."

But Mr Bradshaw defended the government's record on education spending.

He told 999Kingsbridge this afternoon: "The government has increased education spending in Devon by more than 50 per cent since 1997.

"Every school in the county has benefited from this additional funding. It is Devon County Council's job to ensure all this extra taxpayers' money is spent wisely."