WHEN the Governors of Millais School in Horsham, West Sussex, banned Lydia from wearing a small silver ring symbolising her Christian commitment to sexual abstinence until marriage, little did they realise they'd end up in the High Court.

The ring is linked to 'The Silver Ring Thing', a Christian education project aimed at helping teenage girls "value themselves, make right choices about their futures, and reduce Britain's ever-increasing rise in sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancies amongst teenagers''.

Lydia was told by staff that the ring broke the school's uniform policy - a policy that prohibited all jewellery except ear studs, but, according to Lydia, allowed for Muslims to wear headscarves and Sikhs to wear Kara bracelets, and pupils routinely wore body jewellery.

Lydia removed the ring at the start of this year so that her studies, culminating recently in sitting her GCSE Exams, were not affected by ongoing tension between her and teaching staff. However, she persisted with her legal action, including asking the Court to expedite her hearing before she left the school on Tuesday.

Lydia believes the school infringed her rights under Article Nine (9) of the Human Rights Act which, she says, gives her the right to "in public or private, manifest her religion or belief in worship teaching, practice and observance.'' The school, however, says the ring is not a recognised symbol of traditional Christianity, and so no infringement has been made. Having been seen on national TV and in almost every national newspaper, this week Lydia has been relaxing at home and taking stock of her day in Court'.

She told the Echo why she persisted in taking the action. She said: "Over a year ago, as a Christian teenager, I was concerned at the number of people my age who were catching sexually transmitted diseases, getting pregnant or having abortions.

"The Government's Sex Education Programme is simply not working, and as the years pass, the pressure on young people to give in' to sex increases', something she blames on the media's bombardment of sexual images, the expectations, particularly of boyfriends, and peer rivalry.

She said: "Whilst as a Christian I do not agree with sex before marriage, I accept that others have a right to do so, providing they are over the legal age limit. However, I also have a right not only to state my Christian views on sex, but also to demonstrate my Christian faith and commitment to God, and my future husband,not to have sex before marriage through the wearing of a purity ring.'' Lydia, along with 11 other Christian girls at Millais School decided that they would make a commitment and show it by wearing a ring. Lydia said: "The wearing of the ring was to me, a demonstration of my Christian faith and values, which are based on the Bible - which clearly teaches that sex outside of marriage is wrong and therefore not God's best for us.'' Lydia now has to wait six weeks before the judge hands down his ruling on the matter. In the meantime, Lydia is upbeat.

She said: "What is right is that all young people should be valued and respected, and value and respect themselves. To that end, they may wish to say no to sex until they are married.''