FOREIGN Secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw enjoyed a working lunch of a different kind when he called in at a primary school.

Pupils from Audley Junior School in Queens Park Road, Blackburn, welcomed a VIP to the school dining room after winning Blackburn with Darwen Council's Why Is Voting Important competition in February.

Jack managed to squeeze the lunch date in between trips to Europe and Afghanistan and was rewarded with a mouthwatering spread including samozas, hot dogs and pasta.

Thirty children from year five put together a display of the Houses of Commons, complete with rosettes, voicing why voting is important as part of the competition.

They enjoyed a trip to the Houses of Parliament earlier this month as part of their prize.

And they will also have a chance to enjoy 15 minutes of fame because film crews captured the school visit for a fly-on-the-wall television documentary on Jack, due to be screened on April 7.

Head teacher David Whalley said: "We are absolutely delighted to have won and thought it would be good if Mr Straw could come for lunch. All the children have learned so much more about politics and the importance of voting thanks to the competition and thoroughly enjoyed the trip to London."

The VIP group lunched in the school canteen, which is to be knocked down and rebuilt as part of a £400,000 modernisation project.

But canteen manager Wendy Banks, who caters for all 800 pupils, said that nothing special had been put on the menu for Mr Straw.

"He said he liked the food better than his usual but I couldn't get him to swap jobs with me when I asked!"

Mr Straw said: "It was great to sit in a canteen just like when I was at school, only we had horrible tapioca which looked like frogs spawn and they used to boil vegetables until they were dry!"

But there was no quiet after-dinner conversation for the MP.

Pupils, under the guidance of teacher Susan Mortlock and bilingual assistant Sakina Ahmed, fired their questions.

Ten-year-old pupils Imran Alishah and Iflas Mughal asked Mr Straw about his life as an MP and what he would do if he lost an election while nine-year-old Fuiyaz Bhamu asked what attracted him to a career in government.

Mr Straw, who represents around 75,000 residents in Blackburn, said: "I was always good at arguing my case and did a lot of debates at school, so I thought I could be a good MP.

"I would have to go back to being a lawyer if I did not get re-elected.

"The most frustrating thing, though, is when people don't agree with me and I have to work out why.

"It really aggravates me when they are just saying stupid things."

Mr Straw classed the M65 motorway link, which he opened in 1997, and putting Blackburn back on the map as his greatest achievements.

Mr Straw took time to apologise for missing the day out in London and to explain a few stories to Jordan Barrow, nine, and Aysha Ashraf, 10, about the Houses of Parliament and his colleagues John Prescott, Gordon Brown and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

And just to make sure Mr Straw did not get peckish in the afternoon, seven-year-old Jaque Toohill nipped out of class to give him a mini-bar of chocolate as he walked past.

The winning display of the House of Commons was on show at Blackburn Town Hall but has now been returned to the school.