Over 200 bikers turned out to escort a young girl to her school prom in style after hearing she had been suffering from bullying.

Riders from across the county and even as far as London got together to chaperone 15-year-old student Felicity Warburton, after the teenager suffered years of torment at the hands of bullies. 

The mass of bikers met at the Pillar of Salt pub in Droitwich on Tuesday, before setting off for the event, which was held at the Worcester Warriors' stadium. 

Speaking to the Worcester News, her dad, Rich Morrish, said: "We were blown away already by the amount of people in the car park when we got there.

"We were only expecting about 10 or so people, and there were already about 50 bikes, and then they just kept on coming batch by batch to the point that they were all lined up on the grass verge, it was mind-blowing.

"To see we had over 200 riders was nuts - bikers get a bad rep but they were absolutely phenomenal, they were very respectful to her.

"The confidence it brought out in Felicity as well was amazing, over the last year she's had constant bullying going on, the school have done what they can, but they can't do everything.

"But to have this bubbly personality just withdraw into herself and not be that person anymore is tragic to see.

"Most people will have experienced some form of bullying in their lives, and I'm a big advocate for anti-bullying, I hate it.

"So, what can we do? Well, we can make a statement, and that's exactly what we did on Tuesday night, and Felicity was at the helm." 

Mr Morrish said that Felicity's mum, Katie Warburton, was the one who deserved the credit for organising the escort.

She put out a heart-wrenching plea on social media calling for bikers help late last month. 

Katie told of how Felicity, who has dyslexia and Asperger's Syndrome - has always found it hard to make friends and has been bullied since her first day of primary school. 

"Felicity has been looking forward to her prom as she feels that this will be the point where she can show them (the bullies) that they can’t hurt her anymore," she said.

"I really want her prom to be everything she wants and needs it to be."

Katie said that Felicity, who is a world Adaptive Judo silver medallist for her age and weight, loves bikes and all things alternative, which has also led to her being picked on and "called weird".

She reached out to the WAC Motorcycle Club in Perdiswell to help Felicity show her bullies how strong she is, and they answered in style, with hordes of riders following Felicity and her friend all the way to the Sixways Stadium.

Dawn Thomas, a representative of the WAC Motorcycle Club, said: "We were initially contacted by Felicity's mum Katie to see if we would provide a few of us on bikes to escort her to her prom. 

"It changed date a couple of times because of Covid but when she had a firm date, I posted it on our Facebook page and stood back and marvelled at the response.

"Katie and I were bowled over with it all. There were a few other groups involved and we ended up with over 200 bikers escorting her (Felicity) on the ride of her life."

In fact, there were so many riders that made the journey for Felicity that it took them half-an-hour to get out of the stadium car park after they dropped her off. 

And Mr Morrish said he and his partner couldn't have been prouder of Felicity on the night: "Proud of her doesn't even touch it, she's an amazing girl and she hasn't deserved any of this, so to see her light up like a Christmas tree was absolutely fantastic.

"When she sat on that trike and I looked at her, it was like time stood still and I just thought, 'we've got our daughter back'.

Worcester News:

"She was in there all that time, and it just took something big and something special to show how loved she is.

"When you've got someone crunching you down time and time again, you don't see anything good in yourself. 

"So, to see that smile break out on her face was very overwhelming. I'm incredibly, incredibly proud of that girl."

Greg McClarey, headteacher at Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College, said: "Our Prom on Tuesday for our former Year 11 students was a joyful celebration of their time at our college.

"The last 18 months have been incredibly challenging for them and we wish all our former students the very best of luck as they move onto the next phase of their education.

"The college has robust policies for dealing with allegations of bullying and these policies  are regularly reviewed. All allegations are taken seriously and dealt with thoroughly by the college."