A BOY with special needs is facing a 12-mile taxi ride to nursery school every day, after council officers ruled it was better than teaching him at his village school.

Isaac Cain, three, of Lanchester, near Consett, has been diagnosed with global developmental delay.

The condition means he has communication and learning problems, but doctors admit they do not really know why.

His parents want him to go to the nursery attached to the village primary school - where his older brother, Jacob, seven, and sister Georgina, five, are pupils.

But his special needs means he requires one-to-one tuition and Durham County Council says this will be best provided at The Grove nursery, on the other side of Consett.

The daily taxi ride will cost the taxpayer an estimated £1,700 in fares for the year.

Isaac's mother, Sarah Young, said: "Isaac may have developmental delay, but he is still an individual with thoughts and feelings and it would be unfair to remove him from his local community."

She said Isaac already goes to the village nursery one day a week and will lose his friends if he goes to a different nursery.

She said forcing Isaac to travel to nursery was against the council's policy of inclusion.

Last year, another family in the village succeeded in getting one-to-one tuition at Lanchester Nursery for their child, who was born with Downs Syndrome, after they threatened to take the county council to a tribunal.

Ms Young said: "Isaac's education is obviously very important and we greatly appreciate any extra help that he will be given, but we want them to consider Isaac's social and family life, as well as his education."

A Durham Education Authority spokesman said resources for special needs teaching had been allocated.

He said: "Our overriding concern is to ensure that Isaac's special educational needs are fully met.

"We believe that can be best achieved at The Grove, where there are higher staffing levels.

"We can understand Mrs Young wanting Isaac to go to Lanchester, but the resources that would be required to finance the extra staff have been allocated to resourced nurseries like The Grove."