Tony Blair showed off his musical talents yesterday when he took part in an impromptu blues session with a school band.

The Prime Minister strummed a Fender Telecaster guitar as he joined musicians from Dyke House School in Hartlepool.

The 12-bar blues was written by pupil Jonathan Galbraith, 14, who said afterwards: "It was a tremendous honour.

"It's not every day that the Prime Minister plays one of your pieces."

Mr Blair joined in the number in the recording studio of the school's new £1.2m City Learning Centre.

The Prime Minister has renewed his acquaintance with the guitar, which he played at university, over the past year. He told pupils: "You get so much pleasure out of it. It stays with you all your life."

Mark Folland, 19, who lent his instrument to Mr Blair, said: "He was pretty good and this is something to tell people about."

The Prime Minister was accompanied by Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson.

It was the first time they had been photographed in public together outside the House of Commons since Mr Mandelson's sacking as Northern Ireland Secretary over the Hinduja passport affair.

The learning centre, the first of its kind in the North-East, has been funded through the Government's Excellence in Cities programme and will be available to the whole community.

The centre houses a computer suite with 51 work stations, a cyber-cafe, recording studio and music computer suite, dance and drama studio, as well as video conferencing and video editing facilities