DISTRAUGHT parents John Triggs and Liz Galley thought their son’s first day at school would be the proudest moment of their lives but instead feel they have been left fighting for him to have an education at all.

Nearly two months since the school gates opened to welcome new pupils through the doors, five-year-old Harrison, who has autism and ADHD, is still not at his desk.

The couple, from Queensway in Melksham, had pinned their hopes on sending him to Manor Primary School, as they felt it offered the security he needed and was a short walk away from his home.

But as they counted down the days the last thing they thought they would be doing was being told he no longer had a place there.

The couple say after receiving two letters confirming his place the school then told Ms Galley, 44, and Mr Triggs, 36, the place was no longer available because they couldn’t guarantee his safety and they did not have enough staff.

Ms Galley said: “We feel very let down. If they’d said from the start that they couldn’t take him we would have looked for another school.

“We don’t want this to happen to another parent.”

Alarm bells started ringing when the school wouldn’t return their calls for Harrison to come and visit before the new term began.

Mr Triggs said: “We find it hard to understand why they are saying they can’t guarantee our son’s safety, given the fact that we know there are other autistic children at the school.

“A disabled child has been denied a school place as a direct result of his disability and clearly this should never be the case.”

Wiltshire Council later sent Ms Galley and Mr Triggs a list of alternative schools, which included one two hours away in Exeter.

They are now considering sending him to River Mead Academy in Melksham, but think he will not be able to start until after Christmas.

Social services were also forced to write a letter of apology to the couple after a major error was made in Harrison’s statement of educational needs, incorrectly saying he was known to social services due to domestic violence in the family.

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “We always work with the school and the parents to find a placement which offers the best possible education for each individual child.”

Manor Primary School did not wish to comment.