A Borehamwood councillor 'horrified' by the case of a 13-year-old boy who has been without any education for ten months this week demanded he be given a school place for next term.

County Councillor Brian York has asked the county's director of education to take immediate action on behalf of Ashley Wilkinson, who currently has the reading age of a seven-year-old.

Ashley's mother, Debbie Bracey, is considering legal action against the council, and last week her solicitors wrote to the authority to ask for an explanation of the progress it has made.

Hertfordshire County Council claims it has been working hard to find a placement for Ashley, who suffers from a hyperactivity disorder, but that it has proved difficult to identify a suitable school.

Mrs Bracey, 41, of Byron Avenue, said: 'Ashley wants to go to school, but by September he will have been out of school for a whole year.'

Ashley, who went to Falconer School in Bushey until September, has been diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and as a result is prone to violent behaviour.

During his time at Falconer he held a teacher at knife-point, and eventually the council decided that it was not the correct school for him.

Mr York said: 'I am horrified Ashley has not been able to go to school for so long, and that he has not been given any home tutoring.'

The councillor, who is also chairman of Borehamwood Education Forum, warned Ashley would be at a serious disadvantage if the county did not find him a school before the start of next term.

'He may have to be found a school outside of the county if there is not suitable provision within Hertfordshire,' he said.

Although Mrs Bracey was not keen to send her son to a boarding school outside Hertfordshire, she now says she is prepared to consider any offer of schooling for her son.

Mrs Bracey, who is a single mother with three children, also claims that the council has failed to provide a social worker to regularly visit Ashley. The county council said last month that it was endeavouring to meet Ashley's needs and hoped that a school would soon be identified for him.

Hertfordshire County Council has been praised by the national social services inspectorate for the services it provides to children in need, or at risk. The local council was one of twenty local service authorities whose children's services have been evaluated by a programme of inspections over the last year. Plans for future work to improve the service have been approved.