A teenager with special needs was left stranded outside his school when his bus failed to turn up.

Daniel Paton, 15, had to wait in the hot sun for an hour-and-a-half until a bus finally arrived.

His angry mum Sharon has accused Brighton and Hove Bus Company of putting her vulnerable son in danger after he finally arrived home sunburned and distraught.

Mrs Paton, 38, of Clarendon Road, Hove, said: "I think it's disgusting. How many more children were left out in the sun? They should have notified the schools to let them know there might be a problem with the bus service.

"If I had known there would be no bus I could have made alternative arrangements."

Daniel, who has a mental age of 12, got home two hours after school ended on the final day of term at Downs Park School in Portslade.

Mrs Paton said: "He rang me on his mobile to say there was no bus and I rang up the bus company to find out what was going on. They said the problem would be rectified in a month and I said that's no good because I need something done now.

"They advised him to walk down the road and catch another bus. But Daniel doesn't know how to do that."

Mrs Paton, who has three other sons, added: "Daniel is very gullible and easily led. If someone had stopped and offered him a lift he might well have got in."

Brighton and Hove Bus Company blamed the problem on the current shortage of bus drivers. Managing director Roger French said: "There should not have been such a long gap between these buses and it is something we will investigate.

"I am very sorry for any inconvenience caused and offer my apologies. It's true our service is not as reliable at the moment as we would like due to a shortage of drivers. We are recruiting at the moment but it's hard work to replace drivers who leave.

"This is why from next weekend we are revising our schedules so we can balance the number of drivers we have with the number we need. We want to let people know of the new timetable, but it is taking us time to get it organised."