A child born with half a brain faces missing out on school because of a row between his parents and education bosses.

Aidan Dinan, four, was born with cerebral atrophy. The front of his brain is missing.

He is physically and mentally underdeveloped, blind, cannot speak and has to be fed via a tube in his stomach.

His parents, Donna and Tim, of South Street, East Hoathly, want Aidan to go to Chailey Heritage School because they believe it will offer him the best care.

But East Sussex County Council will not fund a place and the school says his problems are too severe.

Instead, Aidan has been offered a place at state-run Grove Park, Crowborough.

However, Mrs and Mrs Dinan insisted Grove Park cannot offer the nursing and therapy care their son requires.

They said if Aidan cannot go to Chailey Heritage he will have to be taught at home.

Mrs Dinan, 30, said: "We are just going to keep fighting. We know Grove Park is not a suitable place for Aidan.

"Aidan can't be educated. He can't learn to count or learn his colours.

"To develop some form of communication is going to be Aidan's biggest learning achievement and he can't do that without a specialist language therapist and occupational therapist."

Aidan started Chailey nursery when he was 12 months old but had to take a year off when he became ill and was in hospital for two months.

He recovered and returned to nursery again in September last year, for three sessions a week.

Mrs Dinan said Aidan had developed in leaps and bounds since being at the nursery, which offers speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and has nurses on hand and visiting doctors.

She said: "He shows expressions of joy which he did not do before. He is having experiences which most children would have such as hand painting and sand play.

"The staff there are very, very good. He loves it. He has come home exhausted because he has had such a good day."

His parents want the progress Aidan has made at nursery to continue at school.

Mrs Dinan said: "Aidan is a child first before he is a disabled child. He is entitled to go to school and have experiences."

A spokesman for the county council said: "The local education authority always considers pupils' needs first and foremost.

"In this instance, the current LEA view is Grove Park School is an appropriate educational placement for Aidan.

"However, the LEA hope that concerns expressed by Aidan's parents can be resolved through ongoing dialogue and discussion with those involved in Aidan's education and care."

Alistair Bruce, headteacher at Chailey Heritage, said the school did not have a peer group for Aidan with his particular disabilities and was not the right environment for his learning needs.

He advised Aidan's parents not to chase the LEA for a place.

Mr Bruce said: "It is not that Aidan would not fit in with us. We won't be the most suitable environment for him. We are a school, not a medical centre. It is a very delicate balance."