A ten-year-old schoolgirl has written a heartfelt plea to her local MP for her mother to receive the life-saving cancer drug Herceptin.

Katie Morgan, from Coton in Shropshire, wrote to Owen Paterson, MP for North Shropshire, asking him to help her mother Susan Morgan in her fight for the drug, after being told she must raise £47,000 for it as a private patient.

The 41-year-old mother-of-four has been refused NHS treatment on the grounds that her case is not exceptional.

In her letter, Miss Morgan wrote: "My name is Katie Morgan.

"I am ten-years-old, I have two sisters called Lucy, who is seven, and Hannah, who is six, and a sweet little baby brother, who is 19-months-old.

"I am writing to you because my mum has had breast cancer since last year.

"Please help us. We would like my mum to be here when we grow up."

She told the Conservative MP that she had started selling eggs from her parent's farm to friends, teachers and other parents at Whixall School to help raise money for the drug.

Mrs Morgan was diagnosed with HER 2 form of breast cancer last May. She also had tests to see if she was suitable for treatment using Herceptin - and they proved positive.

She is currently in remission, but studies have suggested the drug can halve the chances of the cancer returning.

At present it is only licensed by the NHS for treatment of

secondary cancers, and not early stage or primary forms of the disease, which means patients face a postcode lottery over whether or not local PCTs will fund the treatment.

If the family lived two miles west, inside the Welsh border, Mrs Morgan would find the Wrexham health board's policy is to provide early stage breast cancer patients with Herceptin.

Mr Paterson said he had written to Shropshire County Primary Care Trust (PCT) and to Rosie Winterton, the minister responsible for cancer services, to highlight the case and urged the family to appeal the decision.

He said: "Last week I got this letter from Katie and it really struck a chord.

"It's extraordinary that we have a comprehensive national taxation system and yet Katie's mother, if she lived two miles away in Wales or in Staffordshire, would get this drug, but her PCT has told her that her case is not extraordinary."

Miss Morgan is due to receive an Outstanding Young Citizenship Award from the High Sheriff of Shropshire in recognition of all her fundraising efforts to help her mother.

She said: "I love my mum very much and I don't want her to die from cancer, that is why I have written the letter.

"I don't know why she can't but I'm doing all that I can for her."

Her mother praised her daughter's efforts but also said she felt upset that it should fall to her to raise the case with the authorities.

"Katie's letter was very moving but also very upsetting, you don't want to think your daughter would ever have to write something like that," said Mrs Morgan.

Her husband added: "How do you explain to a ten-year-old child that her mother is being denied potentially life-saving treatment? It is exceptionally difficult."

A Shropshire County PCT spokesman said patients who felt they had exceptional circumstances could write outlining their case for being given the drug.

He added: "So far we have not found any case to be exceptional.

"Until this drug is licensed and is considered safe to use in primary breast cancer, our policy will remain the same."