AN ANGRY mum says she was left in the lurch by County Hall, after they failed to get her disabled daughter to college on the first day of term.

Dorset County Council (DCC) came under fire from Weymouth mum Karen Foster, who pays £675 a year in shared taxi scheme fees for her daughter, Lauren, to travel to Weymouth College and back.

Lauren, aged 20, who has special needs, is in her second year at Weymouth College, where she is working on a course to give her confidence and skills to work in the local community.

However, mum Karen was forced to take Wednesday off work, after DCC's Dorset Travel Team failed to secure transport for Lauren's first day back.

Describing the situation as a "fiasco" Karen told the Echo she'd tried to contact the county's travel team days before the start of term.

When she finally got through on Tuesday, Karen said, she was told council records showed Lauren was due to start college on Thursday - the day AFTER she was actually due to return.

Karen, of Hammond Avenue, Southill, Weymouth, explained: "I told them this was wrong but they didn't seem to grasp that, so I had to take Wednesday off to drop my daughter off and pick her up again in the afternoon. It is really frustrating, I am not the only parent or carer in this position.

"There are a lot of people totally stressed out with the service that is being provided and to which we pay £675 per annum towards our young people's transport.

"I am totally at the end of my tether with regard to how they are treating our young people."

Dorset Travel Team service manager Chris Hook said his team had spoken to Karen and told her that transport would be in place for Lauren for the rest of the week.

Mr Hook added: "We will investigate the issues she’s raised about her daughter’s transport arrangements and report back to her what we find.

"Unfortunately colleges release their timetables in September, which gives us a short time to arrange transport for students with complex needs.

"We are working with the colleges to improve the system for families in the future."