A mum-of-four who spent almost £13,000 on a legal struggle to buy her two boys a future has called on other parents to do the same.

Sarah-Jane Burbidge, 47, waged a relentless two-year battle against Bradford's education authority to get the right care for her special needs youngsters.

But now the dust has settled - and so have her boys - she is still unhappy with the system which has poured further distress on top of caring for a desperately-ill child.

"It has been two years of heartache, trouble, stress and anxiety," said Mrs Burbidge, of Highlands Grove, Horton Bank.

"It has been the only thing on my mind, I even stopped working because this has taken all my time."

Eldest son Stephen, 16, was at the heart of the wrangle after eight years of profound illness was finally diagnosed as a brain tumour.

Even after its removal Stephen was left well behind his peers, socially inept and dependent on computer games.

A psychiatrist's recommendation that he attend a special residential school was rejected by an educational tribunal last September and the family exhausted their own savings fighting the decision.

But, although their own funds had run dry, support from their church, family and friends in the form of cash as well as kindness meant they could continue their fight.

Top London barrister John Friel won the case at a review last December and at a rehearing on February 26.

Stephen was awarded the funding to go to a special school in Hampshire, which costs £4,500-a-term, where he has since come on in leaps and bounds. But, just two weeks later, the Burbidge family found themselves fighting for 11-year-old Andrew who suffers from severe speech and language problems and dyspraxia, usually known as Clumsy Child Syndrome.

A tribunal on May 15 this year gave him the green light to take up a place at a Worcestershire school which caters for challenged children also at a cost of £4,500-a-term.

Despite the struggle, Mrs Burbidge, who has two other children, is adamant that she has done the right thing, but believes other parents may be put off standing up to the might of the education authority.

"Parents should not be pressurised into allowing what they feel is second best for their children, she said. "The law says every child has a right to an education and, if through illness that child is not getting it, the LEA has a responsibility to provide it," she said.

"I was told Stephen had a normal prognosis after the operation but I had to think if I let it go it would have had him living on social security all his life because he hadn't had a proper education. "I fought for what he is to entitled to under the law."

A spokesman for Bradford City Council said it was not appropriate to comment on individual cases but each child's needs are individually assessed and it is sometimes necessary to involve a tribunal.

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