An autisitic boy's teeth have been left to rot for more than a year.

Charlie Hatton, five, of Semley Road, Hassocks, has been waiting for a dental appointment since February of last year.

His condition means he has to have a general anaesthetic for treatment and he was referred to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

But Charlie is still waiting and his teeth have deteriorated to the point where he no longer allows his mum Kate to brush them.

Mrs Hatton said: "It is really unfair that people already under pressure with special-needs children should be treated like this.

"It has been hanging over our heads for more than a year. It is traumatic."

Mrs Hatton, who works as a teacher in Crawley, first noticed Charlie had a problem with his teeth in February last year.

She went to the heath centre in Hassocks and had to wait four months to be passed on to a similar service in Haywards Heath, where a dentist confirmed Charlie needed fillings and extractions.

He was referred to the Princess Royal but his treatment has gone no further.

Mrs Hatton said: "I would keep phoning and they said there was a lack of paediatric staff.

"They did say they could give him antibiotics but that is not acceptable.

"The last time I phoned them they said he was only number 30 on the waiting list. Meanwhile there are lots of kids with rotting teeth."

She said: "I think they might have been moving him up a waiting list for a service that doesn't exist. I think that because of cutbacks in NHS funding they are not getting the doctors they need.

"Is it that they haven't got a building for it, or haven't got the staff? What is the hold-up?

"If they had told me at the start there were more than 30 children on a waiting list for a service that isn't up and running I would have got on the phone that day to find somewhere else. I'd have gone to France, Sweden - anywhere."

A spokeswoman for the Mid Sussex Primary Care Trust said: "The trust provides dentist services for children who require more complex treatment than that usually offered at a dental surgery.

"To provide a clinically safe service there have to be specially trained nurses, doctors, surgeons and anaesthetists available to deal with any possible complications.

"In the past this treatment was provided at the Princess Royal Hospital.

"However, in February paediatric day case and in-patient services were transferred to the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton.

"The length of the waiting list has not been affected. In fact the move will mean an increase in capacity from four to six children a month to eight children a month.

"We are sorry if these changes have not been clearly communicated to Mrs Hatton. Charlie has an appointment for this month and will receive his treatment soon afterwards."