A Bradford boy whose baffling medical condition means he can't swallow is to have all his teeth taken out - because he has never been able to brush them.

Zak Simpson will have them taken out on April 27 - the date of his ninth birthday.

The desperately ill youngster has only ever celebrated three of his birthdays at home, all the rest have been in hospital. Because Zak can't swallow he needs his teeth cleaning under anaesthetic every six months but doctors fear the procedures are starting to put a strain on his weak chest.

Zak's mum Simone Mullaney said: "He has never been able to brush his teeth because he can't swallow so they get into a mess. His gums have all swollen and he's been in a lot of pain so it's going to be better for him to have all his teeth out. It's a shame it's on his birthday though."

Doctors puzzling over the cause of Zak's mystery illness, which frustrates him so much that he lashes out and butts his head against family and furniture, have also decided he has to be tube-fed oxygen 24 hours a day.

Until now Zak, who can't eat and is fed through tubes in his stomach, only had to go on oxygen at night.

Mrs Mullaney said doctors were worried his oxygen levels were too low, zapping all his energy and making him fall asleep during the day

He will have to be connected permanently to an oxygen machine whenever he is at home or at his special school in Idle and air will be breathed into his nostrils via seven-foot long tubes.

"It's not a great situation but he will be able to do anything he wants within that seven foot. He was just falling asleep on us all the time so we knew there was a problem," said Mrs Mullaney.

The family are waiting to find out when they will be able to move from their cramped rented house in Little Horton to a new five-bedroom dream home built especially for them.

They will rent the house from Halifax housing association Nashayman Housing, who designed it around Zak's special needs after teaming up with the youngster's occupational therapist Liz Keough.

Mrs Mullaney said: "The rented house we're in now is cold and we think that's why Zak has been so poorly. He's had 15 chest infections since we moved here 12 months ago. We're hoping the new house will improve things for him."

The house means Zak, who is in a wheelchair, will also have a bigger bedroom and a lift in the living room so he does not have to be carried up and down stairs. There will also be a hi-tech bath that raises at the touch of a button so there is no bending, and an upstairs hoist means there will be no lifting Zak at bath and bedtimes.