A TEENAGER said to have fallen on a school step is now wheelchair bound, being taught at home and using a stairlift, says his mother.

Anthony Gilmore injured his thigh and knee in the accident, at Whinfield Junior School, in Darlington, in 2001, when he was 11.

His mother and stepfather, Jennifer and Richard Hewitt, are saving up to sue the local education authority, Darlington Borough Council, which they claim was to blame for the allegedly defective step.

They say Anthony's condition has deteriorated so much since the accident, despite three operations, that he is now barely able to walk.

The couple have recently had a stairlift and walk-in shower installed for the 15-year-old, at their home in Gordon Close, Darlington.

Mrs Hewitt said: "He can't walk long distances at all as he is in constant pain.

"He is upset at the moment because he doesn't go out anywhere. He is very restricted in what he can do, because of the wheelchair.

"He is not doing normal, young man things."

She said Anthony could no longer attend the town's Longfield Comprehensive School because of his condition and was receiving ten hours of home tuition a week.

"The school has done a risk assessment and he just can't go because it's too busy and he would risk being knocked," said Mrs Hewitt, a mother-of-three.

"He is not getting full school lessons and he is going to be doing his GCSEs next year.

"We are very worried."

Mr Hewitt said: "He's going to find it very hard to get any sort of job."

The family's solicitor, James Stephenson, of Hodgsons and Mortimer, Richmond, North Yorkshire, said: "We have spoken to four people who remember the step and say it was defective at the time.

"The council is denying liability so the next step would be to issue proceedings."

A council spokesman confirmed that the authority denied liability and said the matter was with its insurers.