SOCIAL Services chiefs have been cleared of any responsibility for the death of a 38-year-old single parent who jumped 180ft from a viaduct taking her 11-year-old autistic son.

An independent inquiry into the tragedy says it could not have been foreseen or prevented.

But experts have pledged to set up a new task force in order to better help parents with autistic children.

They admit that more could be done in future to help children with disabilities, including autism.

Mum Helen Rogan jumped to her death from Gill Bridge, near Consett, after initially plying herself and son Mark with prescribed tablets then slashing their wrists.

An inquest heard how Ms Rogan could have harboured fears she was going to lose her son because of his autistic problems as he grew older.

The conclusions of a multi-agency inquiry, ordered in the wake of the tragedy, revealed today: "Today's outcome is that there is no evidence to suggest the deaths of Ms Rogan and Mark could have been predicted, and no culpability that can be attached to any individual person or agency.

"There was never any evidence prior to the deaths of Mark and his mother which suggested Ms Rogan would act in the way she did.

"All the evidence would indicate that Ms Rogan was a competent and committed lone parent who strenuously sought to ensure that Mark achieved his social, emotional and educational potential."

Following their deaths in September 2001, the independent report into the circumstances was commissioned by child protection chiefs in County Durham.

A joint statement by Durham Social Services, Durham Education Authority and Derwentside Primary Care Trust said: "We fully accept the findings and recommendations and we welcome the call for a multi-agency approach to providing services and support for disabled children and their families and carers, including those in the autistic disorder spectrum.

"As we each carried out our respective reviews of our involvement with Mark and his mother the benefits of a more integrated approach in the way we worked with disabled children became apparent."

The bodies of Miss Rogan, a qualified occupational therapist, and son Mark Young, were discovered by her brother-in-law after a taxi which regularly took the youngster to a special needs school failed to get an answer at their home.

The inquest, in January this year, heard that Miss Rogan had initially plied both herself and Mark with prescribed tablets before slashing their wrists with a razor blade in a futile bid to end their lives at their house in Consett, County Durham.

Police believe that they both recovered and Miss Rogan decided to make the short journey by car to a local beauty spot less than a mile away and jumped to her death clutching Mark, who the inquest heard would have been barely conscious.

Their bodies were discovered at the foot of Gill Bridge, near Consett, County Durham, just after 10am and Miss Rogan's T-reg Ford Fiesta was found parked in a car park just yards from the viaduct.