The family of an epileptic teenager forced to miss two weeks of college due to a transport crisis say they are considering taking legal action against the council.

Askia Patel, 18, of Leyton has been sitting at home since the beginning of term as Waltham Forest Council and its special education needs (SEN) transport provider CT Plus work through issues.

Mum Shagufta Patel said she is “constantly on the phone to the council” and is frustrated her case is not being treated as urgent.

Now the 48-year-old has applied for legal aid and plans on taking the council to court as the crisis is affecting her daughter’s education.

Hundreds of families across the borough have been affected by the problems, with some disabled children forced to wait for up to 40 minutes to be picked up for school.

“I want to take this further because it is out of order,” said the mother-of-one of St George’s Road.

“This is the third year we’ve been using CT Plus and every year it just gets worse.

“The first year she was left in college one day when they didn’t pick her up.

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“The second year CT Plus refused to pick her up on half-days and it took two months to be resolved.

“This year, it’s now the third week and she’s still not being picked up.”

Askia is in the third year of a Level 2 music and performance course at Big Ceative Education in Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, which requires her to attend classes from 9.30pm to 5pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The student was forced to miss maths, English and music classes during her first two weeks.

Mrs Patel suffers from anxiety which is exacerbated in heavy traffic and is unable to drive her daughter while her husband Yunus works full-time at London Underground.

Askia “loves” her course, said Mrs Patel, and has been “upset and bored” for the past few weeks.

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“What is she going to do at home?” said Mrs Patel. “She can’t go anywhere unless she’s supported by somebody.

“She’s upset and she’s bored and all she’s doing it watching TV. She wants to go to college.

“What type of company have they hired? It’s nearly a month now and I’ve emailed and called and no one is getting back to me.

“I was only told to be patient while it’s being sorted. It makes me very angry because what is the council doing if I’m doing all the running around?

“Between them, the council and CT Plus are just blaming each other.”

Waltham Forest Council has been contacted for comment.