A “PROFOUNDLY” disabled six-year-old was left without specialist transport to school for a week.

Jo Spear, from Littlehampton, has spoken of her “disgust” at West Sussex County Council (WSCC) after she was told that her son would not be getting council transport for five days last week and that in future he would only get transport on a bi-weekly basis.

Ms Spear’s son has complex learning and physical disabilities and the mum-of-three relies on the council transport to get him safely to school.

She is now having to do three separate school runs for her children, which she says takes up most of her day.

A WSCC spokesman said there are currently “significant challenges” with availability of drivers and care staff and said the council is working to find a solution “quickly”.

He added that the council has offered Ms Spear a contribution to her transport costs.

Ms Spear said the council has offered to pay mileage for her son’s journey to school and back but that this “barely puts a pin” in the current petrol costs and that she is yet to be reimbursed or be asked for the relevant information to process this.

"The lack of empathy on WSCC’s behalf is disgusting, we are made to feel as if it is our fault they are in this situation and expected to deal with the fall out of potential fines for missed school days and persistent lateness,” said Ms Spear.

“They rarely answer the phone or respond to messages and leave you not knowing one day from the next what is going on.

“They have changed vehicles, not provided any ID on the cars to know what to expect, my son's wheelchair was left in a stripped-out boot balancing on a spare tyre.

"We now face a minimum period of a week without transport and not knowing when or who will be transporting my disabled son to his school."

Ms Spear said the situation is having a huge impact on her health.

“I am a fulltime carer and I have my own medical conditions,” she said.

“I’m absolutely exhausted and the kids are exhausted too.

“I’m spending the majority of my day in the car.

“They all start within 15 minutes of each other and one’s in Littlehampton and the others are in Worthing so it’s like I’ve got to be in three places at once.”

A WSCC spokesman said: “We are in contact with the family and have apologised for the disruption to their son’s transport to school.

“There are currently significant challenges with the availability of drivers and care staff which is affecting some of our routes.

"This is a national issue and we are working to find a solution quickly, and as an interim measure we have offered this parent a financial contribution towards her transport costs.”