A mother would rather go to prison than stop sending her son to the special school she helped set up.

Sam Hilton has been told she could be prosecuted if she does not send six-year-old Max, who has autism, to a mainstream school.

The mother-of-three takes Max twice a week to Step By Step at Wych Cross, near Hartfield, and would like him to go full-time.

But her education authority have told her Max must be taught in a mainstream school five days a week.

If she continues to refuse to send him, it will prosecute her for unauthorised absence, which can carry a prison sentence.

Mrs Hilton, 34, of Green Lane, Crowborough, said: "I'm not going to stop sending Max to Step By Step. It's such a beautiful place and he loves it.

"The people who made the decision have no idea what it is like to have an autistic child or what life is like for us day to day."

Step By Step, which was opened in April, helps autistic children learn basic skills.

Mrs Hilton and her husband Damien helped set up the school with a group of other parents of autistic children after becoming frustrated at the lack of schooling for them.

They claimed East Sussex Local Education Authority (LEA) had not provided appropriate alternative facilities and a leap into mainstream school would be too much for the children.

Mrs Hilton took the LEA to a tribunal in January after it said her son did not need special teaching.

In April it ruled he should go to mainstream school all the time and have extra speech and language lessons there.

The LEA said it provided adequate services for children like Max in its mainstream schools.

Mrs Hilton has vowed to defy the order, saying she and Max now have cuddles on the sofa, something he would not have done before he went to Step By Step. Autistic children usually shy away from physical contact.

She said: "Although he has to get used to socialising with other children at a mainstream school, it's also really important he learns the basic things they do not have time to teach him there."

"It's frightening to think what will happen to Max when we are not around to look after him.

"The thought of him having to go into a home is devastating but if he learns the basic skills now he will cope better as an adult."

An East Sussex County Council spokesman said: "The tribunal really carefully considered all the evidence and its view has been to direct the local authority to use its own provision and I would support that.

"I think we've got really good provision."

Mrs Hilton, who spent £4,000 in legal costs on the tribunal, added: "It seems ridiculous they are trying to stop something which is so obviously working for Max. Mainstream school is already tough for him.

"The children look after him but they are already way ahead of him in speech and the games they play."

She is determined to fight on for her son and other families in the same position.

But she said: "Sometimes this constant battling is so tiring. I just want to be a mum to my sons."