A 12-year-old disabled boy has been denied a place at the school of his choice because it does not have wheelchair access.

Craig McCarthy, who has cerebral palsy, wanted to go to Duchess Community High School, in Alnwick, Northumberland, next September.

But about 40 per cent of the students are taught in an annexe which has no access for wheelchairs. Instead he will have to undertake a 12-mile journey to another school.

A spokesperson for the education authority said it was "highly regrettable" that McCarthy and many other disabled children were unable to go to their chosen school.

But he added that Northumberland local authority had made sure that addressing the measures in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was one of its top three priorities, and that £4m had been earmarked to build a new school within the next two years.

The Disability Rights Commission said that the case highlighted the importance of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001, which came into force in September. Under the act, every education authority must show from April next year how it plans to improve access to all its schools.