Ananova:

A top grammar school faces legal action after banning a diabetic pupil from taking part in foreign journeys.

Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in Lancashire is being taken to court by the Disability Rights Commission in the first case of its kind after excluding 15-year-old Tom White from trips abroad.

Tom, who developed diabetes when he was nine, was told he could not go on a watersports holiday in France despite having been allocated a place and paid a deposit.

Stuart Holt, headmaster of the 1,120-pupil school and sixth form, said he thought it unfair to Tom to comment at this stage.

He said:" It is a very sensitive case and I am sure when it has gone to court then both sides will have more to say on this matter."

He said in a letter to Mr and Mrs White that would support teachers who were unwilling or felt unable to take the additional responsibility of looking after Tom.

The decision came after the young sportsman had his first severe hypoglycaemic attack - caused by a drop in blood-sugar levels - while on a skiing trip last February.

The school told his parents, Malcolm, 48, and Rosemary, 42, a lecturer of music, that Tom was also unable to take part in a German exchange visit, although he is studying for a GCSE in the language.

Mr White, a financial advisor said: "Tom is devastated by the ban. It is totally unfair to stop him from going on trips with his friends and other pupils just because he has diabetes. We have tried every channel to get the school to change their minds but they have chosen to ignore the medical, educational and legal experts."

Tom's doctors say the schoolboy has an excellent control over his condition, which affects 1.4 million people in the UK. He takes two injections of insulin a day which enables him to lead a normal life.

Before the skiing trip, Mr White provided the school with fact sheet on diabetes and what to do if Tom blacked out. He also gave the party leader Tom's medication in case his son's own supply was lost.

The Disability Rights Commission is pursuing legal action under the goods and services section of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The legislation does not cover education, so the DRC can only take action over only the recreational holidays but not over the German exchange trip.

DRC chairman Bert Massie said: "It is blatantly unfair to ban Tom because he has had one severe hypo. There is no justification for this. A disabled pupil should have access to the same opportunities as everyone else. It highlights the urgency to put the education system squarely within the bounds of anti-discrimination law."