Jilly Cooper says Enid Blyton deserves commemorative coin after it emerged move blocked over ‘racism and sexism’

Gloucestershire author has Jilly Cooper backed calls for children’s author Enid Blyton to be featured on a commemorative 50p coin.

Documents have revealed that the Royal Mint’s advisory committee blocked the move in December 2016 branding the author as “racist, sexist, homophobe and not a very well-regarded writer”.

But supporters argued she should not be judged against modern day standards and deserved the honour because she turned millions of children into readers.

The Daily Mail sparked the row when it obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act which revealed the Royal Mint  was considering producing the coin to mark the 50th anniversary of Blyton’s death in 1968.

Blyton wrote more than 600 books, including series such as The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Naughtiest Girl, The Adventure Series, The Magic Faraway Tree, St Clare’s and Malory Towers.

Birmingham-based professor Kehinde Andrews appeared on Good Morning Britain to argue that the author isn’t ‘worthy’ of the honour.

But Riders writer Jilly Cooper is reported in the Daily Mail as saying: “Enid Blyton was a brilliant storyteller and her books have got millions of children hooked on reading. She definitely deserves a commemorative coin.”

A spokesperson for The Royal Mint says their job is to ensure the coins represent the most significant events in our history – and not every proposal will progress to a UK coin.