Story by Rory Poulter

The Prime Minister visited Teddington this morning to meet the Lionesses.

Liz Truss paid tribute to the Euro 2022-winning team as they prepared for their next game against the Czech Republic in Brighton on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister watched the women's team take part in a training match for around three minutes at The Lensbury Resort, which was the base for the squad during their successful Euros campaign.

Ms Truss held up the European trophy with the help of defender Lucy Bronze after posing for a team photo.

She spoke with winning manager Sarina Wiegman for some time before the photo, which also included Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly and Fran Kirby.

The PM is also understood to have held a meeting with captain Leah Williamson and defender Lotte Wubben-Moy, who was the driving force behind a letter demanding action to boost girls' access to football.

The England team will dedicate the Brighton fixture to the FA's 'Let girls play' campaign for equal access.

During the Tory leadership campaign, all 23 members of the winning squad wrote to Ms Truss and her then-rival Rishi Sunak demanding support for women's football.

Leah Williamson said: "After this summer's success we are keen to create a real legacy in this country, we want every young girl in the nation to be able to play football at school and we won't stop until the opportunity to play our sport is equal to everyone. Currently only 67 per cent of schools offer football equally to girls and boys in PE lessons and that is not enough.

"There is a generation of girls who deserve more. Each and every one of us is wholeheartedly behind this campaign and we're all grateful to our teammate Lotte Wubben-Moy for the work she continues to do with the support of the FA on this.

"Tomorrow night will hopefully continue this important conversation and ask people to consider what more they could be doing to help girls overcome inequality, all we are asking is that girls have the choice."

Baroness Sue Campbell, the FA's director of women's football, said: "We're hugely proud of the players as they continue to take a stand. This summer they not only proved themselves as world-class players but a group of fantastic role models committed to driving transformational societal change."