A mother desperate to find food her son was not allergic to has joined forces with a supermarket chain to launch a range of meals.

Patricia Wheyway faced a daily struggle to find food suitable for her five-year-old son George.

He has intolerances to certain foods which can trigger epileptic seizures.

Mrs Wheyway said: "Shopping was an absolute nightmare and I had to travel all over the place to find foods he could eat.

"I mostly had to use health shops and there was very little available in the supermarkets."

In desperation, she wrote to the chief executive of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy, asking him to consider launching a special range of foods.

He was so impressed with her idea he gave the go-ahead to the nationwide launch of a range called Free From, for people with special dietary needs.

Mrs Wheyway, who grew up in Bognor, was working as a supermarket buyer when she came up with the idea.

She has now been taken on by Tesco as project manager for the Free From range.

It is made up of foods which are free of wheat and gluten and do not contain additives known to spark allergies and intolerances.

Mrs Wheyway, 41, said it represented good news for people on a restricted diet.

She said George had first shown signs of being intolerant to food soon after he was born because of the amount of milk he brought up when she was feeding him.

Three years later, she discovered George's epileptic seizures were probably caused or worsened by eating certain foods.

Mrs Wheyway, who moved from Bognor to Hertfordshire to take up her new post, said: "It is great to see my idea finally put into practice."

Her mother Veronica, who lives in Linden Road, Bognor, said: "I am really proud of her and will think of her every time I see the range."

The 100 new lines, which have been launched in 422 stores, include cereals, snacks, pizzas and desserts.