TV personality Esther Rantzen told today how her own son was bullied at school, when she addressed a York conference in York aimed at tackling the problem.

She also compared bullying in schools with the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, saying the horrifying pictures which have been appeared in the world's media illustrated how people's vulnerability could be taken advantage of.

Ms Rantzen, who is the chairwoman of Childline, said the school her three children attended claimed it did not suffer from bullying.

But she said she later discovered that her youngest son had been bullied over a period of three years.

Today's conference, at the Royal York Hotel, was attended by teachers from across the Yorkshire region, and was aimed at tackling bullying and intimidation in schools.

Heads and governors were urged to support the Government's Make A Difference campaign to clamp down on bullying.

They were also invited to adopt an anti-bullying Charter For Action, in which they commit the whole school community to a culture where bullying is not tolerated and is actively tackled.

Ms Rantzen said 22,000 children rang Childline last year about bullying, and this year the figure had risen to nearer 30,000.

"Bullying takes many forms. It can be mental cruelty and it can utterly destroy people's lives," she said.

After the conference the presenter said she had never experienced bullying personally, but she had seen it in the industry that she works in.

She said: "It certainly happened when I was at school, but I was never involved personally. I saw it happening and hated it, and did everything I could to stop it happening. I have seen it in the television industry."

Ms Rantzen praised City of York Council's methods of dealing with bullying, by carrying out a survey each year of when and where bullying takes place. She said she hoped other local education authorities would adopt the same approach.

Updated: 13:08 Monday, May 10, 2004