KATIE Price has responded to criticism after claiming the bill for transport costs between her Sussex home and a specialist school in London is footed by the council.

The millionaire glamour model told how costs of her son Harvey’s trip on the school run ranged up to “£1000” with some of the bill footed by the taxpayer.

Price's son Harvey is blind and has a range of other disabilities including autism, ADHD and Prader-Willi syndrome and reportedly

The claims were made on Celebrity Big Brother and the revelation led to a clash with housemate Katie Hopkins who suggested she should foot the bill herself.

But after coming under fire following the claims, yesterday Price’s team responded and said the £1,000 sum to which she referred was not the cost to the local authority but her estimate of the fees if she used a private driver.

A spokesman for the celeb said: "The cost of the school placement together with transport is not means-tested as it is provided for the child. Local authorities do not have special needs schools locally as these have been closed during the last 15 years as it was deemed a cheaper option to transport children out of borough.

"If Harvey's school was on his doorstep as with schools for healthy children then this would not apply, but it was the Government's choice to close the special needs schools.

"The education law states that the local authority must provide transport to and from the school that is named in the statement. This must be appropriate to the child's needs and include the provision of an escort (in Harvey's case a nurse) who is trained to cope with the child's medical needs.

"The escort (nurse) is because Harvey's condition is life-threatening and he has to have someone capable of giving emergency injections to save his life.

"Kate's calculation of £1,000 per day is based on hiring her private driver and a private nurse, to drive to and from her home to Harvey's school twice a day (which is 1.5 hours drive each way). This is not the sum the local authority pays."