An autistic boy's mother who claims she had to take her son out of a state school after it failed to provide him with a proper education plans to set up her own school.

Since pulling her son Lucien, 10, out of council-run education two years ago, Regina Coulon, 43, has been raising money to set up a school similar to the TreeHouse in London, established by parents of children with autism and offers tailor-made education.

The mum of four, of Seventh Avenue, South Shore, has set up the Wishing Well appeal to raise the £150,000 needed to open the new school.

Mrs Coulon, who is married to Pierre, a casino director at The Paris, Station Road, Blackpool, said the council funded the privately-run Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) programme for her son after he was diagnosed with the brain disorder aged three.

But, she claims, it refused to continue the programme once Lucien reached full-time school age and turned down the couple's request for their son to study part-time in a mainstream school.

In March 2006, the couple lost a tribunal to get the council's decision overturned.

"We have been to hell and back because of some of the professionals in this town," said Mrs Coulon, a former dancer at Blackpool's Central Pier and Horseshoe Bar.

Blackpool Council's education boss Coun Ivan Taylor said: "Mrs Coulon took us to a tribunal but she lost, which shows we do provide adequate services for autistic children. We have been commended for the way we support children with autism."

A statement from Blackpool Council added that there were a number of children on the autistic spectrum, at varying degrees, who receive additional support from a designated support assistant.

The couple's daughters, Nikita, 18, Sophie, 15, and Phoebe, three, do not have special educational needs.

To help visit www.wishingwellhouse .co.uk or call Mrs Coulon on 01253 341315.