PARENTS of autistic youngsters across the region were last night calling for an investigation into why a mother killed herself and her son by leaping 180ft from a viaduct.

The bodies of 38-year-old Helen Rogan and autistic 11-year-old Mark Owen Young were found by a relative on Tuesday.

Police said Miss Rogan left a series of heart-rending notes in the family home at Blackhill, near Consett, County Durham, before jumping from the viaduct with Mark wrapped in her arms.

Care groups and parents of autistic children called for an inquiry into the tragedy and the level of support available to families.

It also emerged last night that Miss Rogan had made a previous suicide attempt and may have taken Mark's life before they plunged off Hownsgill Viaduct, known as Gill Bridge, in the Moorside area of Consett.

Helen Geldard, who has an autistic son and runs the County Durham Autistic Support Group, said parents are given little or no support from social services.

She said: "In the last 48 hours I've been inundated with calls from families absolutely enraged about what happened to Helen Rogan.

"On a day-to-day basis, they (social services) provide nothing specific for parents of autistic children. Carers have to fight one battle after another to find out information, and the sheer frustration of constantly fighting for more support, more knowledge, can be crippling.

"It is a 24-hour, seven day-a-week job. It's about time social services recognised that and provided better respite care."

Bosses at Durham County Council Social Services have begun a review of the care and support Helen and Mark received in the months before they died.

A council spokesman added: "We were satisfied that the level of care and support provided was appropriate."

Miss Rogan, a qualified occupational therapist, quit her job to care for Mark about seven years ago.