Schoolchildren cheated out of World Cup tickets thought it was all over a couple of days ago - but now they will see a game after all.

Eleven Oxfordshire schoolchildren who travelled all the way to Germany, but left without seeing a match because of an international scam, have been told they will get free tickets for a quarter-final.

The youngsters, aged between 11 and 14 from Drayton School in Banbury, were left heartbroken when their tickets failed to turn up, despite paying £400.

They were among 380 British children caught in the same situation. When Prime Minister Tony Blair heard of their plight, he vowed to try to help them out.

And after Government talks with World Cup organisers Fifa, the pupils have now been guaranteed seats for one of the quarter-final matches, which take place on June 30 and July 1. The school party will fly to Germany courtesy of British Airways.

Craig Burrows, head of PE at Drayton School, said: "Obviously, the kids were absolutely gutted by what happened. They had been thinking about nothing else for weeks.

"But when we got back our story seemed to get a lot of press coverage and Tony Blair got involved.

"We were delighted to hear we had quarter-final tickets. A lot of the kids thought I was winding them up when I told them the news. They are ecstatic."

They do not yet know which match they have tickets for, but are hopeful of seeing England play, should Sven's men reach the final eight.

Mr Burrows and colleague Jan Harding, also a PE teacher, accompanied the pupils to Germany last week.

They thought they had tickets to see Czech Republic play Ghana on Thursday in Cologne. But things started to go wrong when they were told their tickets had been swapped to the Iran versus Portugal match on the same day.

And those tickets failed to materialise when Activ4, the company which arranged the £410-a-head tour, went to collect them.

Year Nine pupil Jack Goode, 14, from Banbury, said: "I think it's brilliant news. We were so gutted last time after travelling all the way out there and not seeing any football.

"We are all really hoping we get to see England play in the quarter-finals. The atmosphere will be amazing."

Two people have been questioned by police on suspicion of obtaining money by deception.

A 38-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman were arrested in Slough, Berkshire, and released on bail until next month.