TONY Blair has snubbed county residents, refusing to answer important questions, when he visited Worcestershire yesterday.

The Prime Minister declined to speak to the Evening News as to why the county receives such a raw deal in Government funding.

Officials said the Prime Minister "did not have time" to answer questions from the county's daily newspaper when he went sailing at the Upton Warren Outdoor Education Centre, near Droitwich as part of a publicity tour.

He and education minister Ruth Kelly went on to meet Evesham schoolchildren and talked to BBC television about the Government's new guidelines on school trips, but snubbed local reporters.

"Time was fairly tight and he was keen to speak to children and staff at the LEA facility," said a spokesman from Mr Blair's office.

"We have to balance lots of requests for his time and unfortunately on this occasion there was not enough time to answer all the questions."

The fairer funding campaign has seen parents travel to Westminster to lobby for more than £10m more in education grants.

Earlier in the month the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said it would listen to representations over changes in cash handout calculations.

A Department for Education and Skills spokesperson responded to the Evening News by saying the county received a funding increase "well over" the national average last year.

Mr Blair took a trip with 12-year-olds Hannah Weale and Colleen Penrose, from St Egwin's CE Middle School.

Charlie Bone, an instructor at the centre who accompanied the Prime Minister, said he was "definitely a natural" sailor.

"He was asking about the sails and how they fill with wind and he had a go at steering," she added.

Manager Phil Ascough, who presented Mr Blair and Ms Kelly with a mug from the centre, said the visit was a surprise after initially being told to expect schools minister Stephen Twigg.

"We thought that until 7.30pm last night at which point they said it could be the Prime Minister or Ruth Kelly. At lunchtime it became both of them," he said.

"But it was excellent, really nice to hear something positive about outdoor education and seeing support for younger people."