TV presenter’s autistic son ‘shut out of academy’

The television presenter Melanie Sykes has revealed that she is struggling to find a school for her 11-year-old autistic son after he was asked to leave a mainstream academy.

"We are doing everything we can but there are so many obstacles. Valentino could be independent, self-sufficient and a very valuable member of society, but he may lose the ability to live that life if he slips through the net," Sykes said.

Sykes - who came to prominence as a model in advertisements for Boddingtons Brewery - and her former husband, the actor Daniel Caltagirone, said they had met many other "desperate parents"