A mother who lost a High Court fight to try to stop her eight-year-old son receiving treatment for cancer has said he is looking forward to going back to school.

Sally Roberts, who lives in Westdene, Brighton, said Neon was "recovering" and his "spirits were up", and he would go back to school when he was strong enough after the completion of radiotherapy.

"I'm incredibly proud of Neon and he's handled everything incredibly well and doing okay. Now that the treatment's finished he's making a recovery," Ms Roberts told BBC Five Live.

"He's not quite as lively as his twin sister but he's an incredible little boy and his spirits are up and he's handled everything so well. I'm so proud.

"(He will go back to school) when he's feeling strong enough. He's very pale and doesn't look that great at the moment and I think he has to get his confidence and strength back.

"He wants to go back but we are not going to make him do anything he doesn't want to do after the year he has just had."

Ms Roberts, 38, lost a legal battle to stop her son receiving radiotherapy treatment, which she believed would cause Neon to suffer long-term harm, after the removal of the tumour in October 2012.

Doctors argued that her son would die within three months if he did not receive the treatment.

Following the ruling, Ms Roberts and her son disappeared but were found four days later.

Ms Roberts said Neon had no idea of the legal fight and the interest generated in his case.

"I think we'll discuss it later on when the time comes when it's appropriate," she said.

"He has no idea... he had an inkling that mummy wasn't so keen but I never spoke about it or caused a fuss in front of him."

Ms Roberts said she still believed there were alternative treatments available for her son but said a recent scan had shown there were no signs of the cancer returning.

"Immediately after the tumour... three weeks after... he was feeling very bad and his co-ordination has never been quite the same and his strength, he's quite weak," she said.

"The treatment really took it out of him. He'd start to feel better then every six weeks he'd have to go in for more chemotherapy.

"After the radiation - the look of Neon, that was not the look of cancer because he was cancer free at that stage - that was the look of the treatment.

"I feel exactly the same as a year ago - thrilled. That's what I want to make clear is that he was cancer-free a year ago, which is why I was against the treatment a year ago because I think radiation as a precautionary measure is harsh.”