A DISABLED Bridgwater boy no longer faces a "six-hour" round-trip walk to school after a U-turn by the county education authority.

Tristan Lambert, four, who is autistic and has special needs, had to make the trek every day with dad Damian from his home to Westover Green School.

Mr Lambert said the local education authority had turned down a request for transport because it thought the youngster's place of learning was "within walking distance".

"It was the nearest school we thought could meet his educational needs with the set up it has for special needs children," he told the Mercury.

"The LEA turned down his transport request, saying he is within walking distance of the school which takes him and myself nearly six hours a day going to and from, as he has trouble getting about and won't go on buses due to a fear of unknown people.

"He will go in a car but finding people willing to help is very hard.

"With his condition it makes it very hard to do normal everyday things due to people's reactions to his peculiar habits when out and about at parks or shops."

The family has no car of its own, which meant every morning Damian and Tristan had to wrap up before spending hours making their way to and from the school.

Mr Lambert said Westover Green did not have a budget to cover equipment his son and other children needed in regard to sensory equipment.

"I am at the moment trying to raise funds through charities to help buy some equipment for the school so it can continue to have open gates for learning and give any child a chance at mainstream school education," he said.

"My son has not been given full funding to meet his needs to be in any school environment which means the school has to struggle to coup with a very demanding eager to learn special needs child with autism."

But a spokesman for local education authority, Somerset County Council, revealed good news for the family after reviewing the case.

"Having reviewed Tristan's individual needs and requirements, we have approved school transport provision for him," she told the Mercury.

"Special Educational Needs funding for Somerset schools is made up of two main blocks - School Action (£7.7million) and School Action Plus (£9.3million).

"It is for schools to decide how best to meet individual needs through the way they spend their total budget.

"If a parent is concerned about support available to their child, then we would always advise them to approach the school to try and resolve their concerns.

"The local authority also provides support to schools and individual pupils through the work of specialist teams, including an autism team and educational psychologists."