A MUM is angry her 11-year-old son with a heart condition has been told to go to a secondary school 70 minutes away from their home.

Anita Aldous, of Oak Avenue, Shirley, wants her son Connor to go to a school close to family and friends in case he is taken ill and has to be taken to hospital.

Although Connor attended nearby Pickhurst Junior School in West Wickham, Bromley Council did not offer him a place at the four schools in the borough the 44-year-old mum applied for.

Croydon Council, which is responsible for placing Connor, says there are places for him at schools in south Croydon or Surrey - meaning a two-and-a-half hour round bus trip each day.

Ms Aldous said: “I am very disappointed and angry.

“You would think out of four schools one of them would take him.”

The systems analyst says if Connor has to travel for a long time each day "he will get very tired” and this was dangerous due to his condition.

Connor has the heart condition aortic stenosis.

He was born with a deformed aortic valve and had open heart surgery at 16 months to replace it with a donor valve.

The condition often leaves him breathless and suffering chest pains and in the next year he will need the donor valve replacing.

His mum applied for a place at Langley Park School for Boys, Ravens Wood School, Hayes School and Ravensbourne School in Bromley borough.

Ms Aldous, who is in remission from breast cancer, made Langley Park School for Boys her first choice.

She said: “Connor is upset because all his friends are going there and he asked me if they do not want him because of his heart condition.”

The single mum is unable to take Connor to school as she works full-time.

A Bromley Council spokesman said: “While schools in Croydon include medical grounds in their applications criteria, Bromley schools do not.

“Bromley Council does not use a catchment system, instead it uses proximity circles which vary each year dependent on demand for school places.”

To read more community news visit newsshopper.co.uk/news/community/