A teenage schoolgirl has won the right to wear trousers to school - overturning a school dress code that banned them.

Jo Hale, a 14-year-old pupil at Whickham comprehensive school in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, has succeeded in a three-year campaign to be allowed to wear trousers.

In an out-of-court settlement, which followed the threat of legal action against the school, Jo Hale and other girl pupils will be allowed to wear trousers as part of their uniform from September.

This change in the dress code will only apply to Whickham School - although the schoolgirl's mother has called upon the education secretary to rule that girls can wear trousers in all schools.

The schoolgirl's parents had claimed that the school rule that prevented girls from wearing trousers represented a form of sexual discrimination.

"This will not become law but I hope the outcome is influential in other cases where silly rules discriminate against girls," said Claire Hale, the schoolgirl's mother.

The case against the school dress code had been supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission.

The commission's chairwoman, Julie Mellor, described the outcome as "a victory for common sense. Trousers are smart and practical for the rigours of school life and there is no reason for girls not to wear them".

The school's chair of governors, Tom Hopper, insisted that most parents still wanted to keep the ban on trousers for girls in school, but the threat of legal costs made it impossible to contest the case.

"We simply could not risk our limited funds being diverted away from education spending. It is therefore with great reluctance that we change the uniform code," said Mr Hopper.

There have been signs that other schools are relaxing previously strict regulations about trouser-wearing for girls - even in the most traditional institutions.

In 1998, it was announced that girls in the sixth form at the independent Cheltenham Ladies' College would be allowed to wear trousers for the first time, breaking with 145 years of tradition.