Schoolboy Harry Mishon has been told he cannot have a bus pass to go to his Roman Catholic school because he is not a Catholic.

Harry, 13, lives far enough away from school to qualify but because he has not been baptised a Catholic he can't have one.

Each day he pays £1.20 to travel from his home in Patcham, Brighton, to Cardinal Newman school in Hove and back again.

His mother Lynne is calling for the rules to be changed so her son is eligible for the same concessions as his Catholic friends.

Ms Mishon, a qualified homeopath, said: "It's discriminatory.

"When the man asked if Harry was a Catholic and I said no, he told me he couldn't have a bus pass. I said, 'You must be joking'.

"It's not his fault but the box on the form which asks if you are a Catholic should not be there.

"I was adamant I wasn't going to lie and say Harry was a Catholic because I don't lie.

"You can't discriminate like that. I bring up my children to respect equal opportunities.

"The school was happy to accept Harry even though he's not a Catholic but the rules say he can't have the pass because he's not a Catholic, even though he goes to the school."

Ms Mishon said she could have sent her son to another school closer to home but she wanted him to attend Cardinal Newman because of its Christian ethos.

The state secondary school offers places to Catholics but also accepts students from other denominations if they provide written evidence of regular worship signed by their parish priest or minister of religion.

Before moving to Cardinal Newman, Harry went to Aldrington Church of England Primary School in Hove.

Ms Mishon, 39, of Windmill View, Patcham, who also has a daughter, Molly, nine, said: "I'm sure there are a lot of people who would say that's not what Christianity is about.

"It's not about the money, it's the principle."

Brighton and Hove City Council is responsible for administering bus passes, governed by national policy.

The school and the bus company are not involved in the process.

A council spokesman said: "To qualify for a bus pass to attend a Catholic school more than three miles away you do actually have to be a Catholic.

"Children who aren't Catholic but who by choice attend Catholic schools more than three miles away instead of their local school do not qualify for bus passes here or, to our knowledge, anywhere else.

"There are nationally recognised rules relating to this and they are very clear.

"This system is monitored carefully.

"Our school transport staff check baptism certificates with the schools involved to ensure passes are only given to Catholics.

"If a child of a particular denomination wishes to attend the nearest school of the same denomination but lives more than three miles away - two miles for a primary school - they are entitled to a bus pass."

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said it asked education authorities to pay for bus passes as long as children attended the nearest school available to them within the three-mile rule for issuing bus passes.

As Ms Mishon's son was a non-Catholic who chose to attend a Catholic school more than three miles from his home, it was up to the council whether it paid for a pass but it was under no obligation to do so.