The parents of an autistic child who paid for an advert about his condition in his school's summer fair programme are angry that it was pulled after being deemed "inappropriate".

Dr Sanjiv Chawda, 37, and his wife Bhavna, 30, of Pangbourne Drive, Stanmore, were among parents invited to advertise their businesses by Whitchurch First School, which their seven-year-old son Kush attends.

As they don't own a business, the couple decided to place an advert raising awareness of autism and calling for greater understanding of the effects it has. They checked with the school and were told that would be acceptable so paid £20 for a full page in the brochure for the fair at the school in Wemborough Road, Stanmore, on June 29.

But when the day of the fair came, they were stunned to discover that their announcement had not been included.

"We found out about this decision only on the day of the fair, when the brochure was already printed," said Dr Chawda. "We couldn't believe that it had not been included and no-one had bothered to tell us.

"The fair was held in conjunction with Whitchurch Middle School and, apparently, either its headteacher, Keith Hildrew, or its parent teacher association pulled the advert because they deemed it to be 'inappropriate'. But neither will give us a proper explanation or apology."

Mrs Chawda added: "Our son has a disability, and a lot of people don't know what autism is. We were very keen to have our advert published to raise awareness so that others would understand more about his condition.

"Kush is about to leave Whitchurch First and start at a new school in September. The four years he has spent there have been very happy. Whitchurch Middle School has managed to overshadow that and I am saddened and angry over the treatment and lack of answers we have received."

Anne Winstrom, head of the first school, said she too was very concerned about the way the Chawdas had been treated, adding: "I was away when the fair was on so I wasn't involved in the decision-making regarding the adverts. I tried to find out why the advert wasn't included and I believe it was because the school didn't feel it was appropriate for Kush to be named.

"I will be contacting the Chawdas to see how they feel about the advert being printed in the school prospectus instead."

Mr Hildrew was unavailable for comment.