A Watford couple are raising money to buy a service puppy for their son after he was diagnosed with autism early last year.

Six-year-old Thomas Keene of Goodrich Close was found to have autism in January 2014, and has more recently been diagnosed with ADHD. According to his mum, Kay Keene, 37, Thomas has always had sensory issues, along with anxiety, sleep difficulties and verbal dyspraxia.

After scouring autism websites, Facebook and Google, Thomas's parents decided the addition of a service dog to the family would improve his wellbeing and lifestyle.

The couple discovered Service Dogs Europe, an organisation who train service dogs for autism, Tourettes, dementia, mobility, diabetes, hearing and seizure, and decided to make contact with them.

Ms Keene said: "We’ve been looking to get a service dog for a while now - we were thinking about getting a dog anyway - so we spoke to a guy from Service Dog Europe, Henry Fitzsimons, who said we are best to do a fund raising page to get some money together. The service dog will cost £6,000."

After speaking with Service Dog Europe, Ms Keene and the rest of Thomas's family are convinced a service dog will help reduce his outbursts, help him sleep better by being able to stay in his bed with him, and offer him comfort to make him feel safe.

Ms Keene added: "Having a service dog will greatly benefit Thomas and our family. We started the fund raising page two weeks ago now and so far we've got about £70. Asda also gave us a voucher to help out."

Thomas’s family will also be holding a fund raising party in April or May at their home this year.

Ms Keene said: "We did that for my mum when she had breast cancer a couple of years ago and that worked really well.

"Not a lot of people know about Service Dog Europe so raising awareness about them is just as important as raising the money for Thomas's cause."

To donate to Thomas’s cause visit http://www.letsgofundraise.com/fundraiser_detail.php?fundid=79