THE BRITISH teacher serving a 15-day sentence in Sudan for insulting Islam last night reassured her family that she is safe and being well looked after.

In a statement Gillian Gibbons, who was jailed by a Sudanese court last Thursday, made it clear that she is in good spirits - and she even managed some humour.

She said she was being well fed and has been given so many apples "I feel I could set up my own stall".

Gibbons, of Aigburth, Liverpool said she was grateful to the people who have been working to secure her release, but said that she would be sad to leave Sudan.

The statement, which was released by her legal team, said: "I'm fine, I'm well, I'm very grateful to all the people working on my behalf. I know so many people out there have done so much. I know the Prime Minister has called my son, and I'm really grateful to everyone.

"I want people to know I've been well treated, and especially that I'm well fed. I've been given so many apples I feel I could set up my own stall. The guards are constantly asking if I have everything I need.

"The Sudanese people in general have been pleasant and very generous, and I've had nothing but good experiences during my four months here. I'm really sad to leave and if I could go back to work tomorrow then I would."

The statement was released just hours after Gibbons, 54, was visited at a secret location in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, by two British Muslim peers who have travelled to Sudan in a private bid to win her freedom.

Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer, and Baroness Warsi, a Conservative peer, held talks with the Sudanese foreign minister and other officials earlier yesterday in an attempt to resolve the situation.

Gibbons's chief defence lawyer said that he expected her to be pardoned after the peers' visit. Kamal al-Gizouli said that only the Sudanese president had the power to lift Gibbons' sentence.

Gibbons is being held in secret after thousands of protesters gathered on Friday to demand a harsher sentence. Yesterday, the streets were quiet.

Gibbons was jailed for insulting Islam after allowing her class of seven-year-olds to name a teddy bear Mohammed.

Yesterday, the Foreign Office said British Embassy staff had spent an hour and a half with Gibbons, who has been moved to a "more comfortable and secure environment".

Lady Warsi said Gibbons had been "in good spirits" during her visit.

"I asked her how she was feeling and if she was eating well," she said.

Lady Warsi said they were optimistic that a resolution could be reached.

She said: "We are here with one agenda, a very clear agenda, and the Sudanese authorities are aware of that."

Diplomatic efforts by the British government to secure the teacher's release are also continuing, with the Foreign Secretary calling the Sudanese foreign minister at 1.30pm yesterday to reiterate his "very strong concern" at her continued detention.

On Friday night, Foreign Secretary David Miliband rang Gibbons' son, John, 27, to personally reassure the family that he is doing "everything he can" to secure her release.

Speaking outside his Liverpool home this morning, John Gibbons said: "The Foreign Office have been in touch with me all the time, and the Foreign Secretary rang me last night.

"He didn't say much really, just to say they're doing everything they can. He's still trying."

He said he had spoken to his mother and told her the family missed her and loved her. He said he had no plans to travel to Sudan because they were hoping the matter would soon be resolved.

A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday: "Mrs Gibbons' welfare remains our priority. Consular staff from the British Embassy visited her again this morning and spent around an hour and a half with her."

The spokesman said that the peers' trip was a private initiative, which complemented their efforts.

"Our Embassy in Khartoum is providing the two peers with every possible support, with the British Ambassador to Sudan accompanying them in their meetings. We are pleased that they have been able to convey the views of British Muslims and wider British society to the Sudanese authorities," he said.

The perceived leniency of Gibbons's sentence has incensed Sudan's hard-line Muslim clerics. On Friday crowds burned pictures of her and called for her to be executed.