A DISABLED mother has made an impassioned plea for a college to show leniency over her carer daughter’s attendance record.

Karen Smurthwaite’s daughter Zoe is due to finish her Redcar and Cleveland College course in May and has conditional offers from several universities, but the 23-year-old is facing final disciplinary action from the college over her attendance.

Mrs Smurthwaite, from Thirsk, suffers from debilitating osteoarthritis and cerebral palsy and Zoe helps with her care, meaning sometimes they do struggle to get her to college - a situation Mrs Smurthwaite says the college is aware of.

Despite the challenges, the good grades Zoe has achieved so far have led to offers from universities including Newcastle and Northumbria.

If Zoe is expelled from her social sciences course at Redcar, her dreams of studying psychology and criminology at university will be in tatters.

Mrs Smurthwaite, whose plasterer husband Philip had to quit his job in 2005 to care for her, said: “Obviously now we are on social housing and benefits, we can’t give her the nice things that we used to and I don’t want her to have this life.

“I don’t want her sitting in some social housing flat on jobseekers allowance for the rest of her life because of me and my disability.”

Mrs Smurthwaite has previously featured in The Northern Echo over a council battle to get a stairlift installed in her home - something that has now been done - and says she feels “constantly guilty” over the impact her disability has on her family.

In an emotional plea to the college, she said: “My daughter gave all her work in on time, she’s got good grades, please don’t take it away.”

The family is set to meet with senior staff on Thursday and a letter sent by the college says it is a final disciplinary meeting where Zoe can explain why she should not be withdrawn from her studies “with immediate effect”.

Alys Tregear, operations director - student support, said the college looks to support all of its learners. She added: "As part of the enrolment process, learners are given the opportunity to declare any issues that may impact on their studies or require additional help and support.

“If any such issues are identified during their time with us, we have a range of policies and procedures in place to help the student to sustain their studies and support their learning.

“If a student needs help or support to complete their studies, our experienced staff are available to discuss the different support mechanisms available to them.”