education bosses are investigating why a Hampshire boy has lost nearly a year's schooling after being barred from lessons.

Worried parents Gordon and Sally Hine of Terrier Close, Hedge End, say they are desperate for their 13-year-old son Ashley to continue his learning. He has been caught up in a bureaucratic tangle that has led to him receiving no tuition for months on end and being asked to stay away from Swanmore School in Bishop's Waltham.

Their son, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has been forced to stay at home since November - and he will only be allowed to start at a new school at the beginning of July.

Now education chiefs have admitted an "error" and said immediate action would be taken.

A spokeswoman for Hampshire County Council said: "Due to the on-going belief that a placement would become available at an appropriate school, alternative provision such as home/group tuition was not established by the LEA.

"With hindsight, this was an error but the local education authority believed that a placement was imminent. We will be getting in touch with the family this afternoon to plan what we can put into place in the short-term before Ashley starts his placement."

Mum Sally, 40, explained she and her husband had been asked to keep Ashley at home following an incident with a Swanmore pupil.

"We have never been told formally by the school what went on that day - although Ashley has told us, of course.

"The school asked us to keep him at home until a place at an EBD or educational behavioural difficulties school could be found for him."