The parents of a four-year-old girl with cerebral palsy are having to make a 100-mile a day round trip to a specialist school after the county council refused to pay for transportation because of budget cuts.

Sophie and Serge Cowan, from Nightingale Road in Bushey, have been fighting in tribunals to keep their daughter Madelene Mae's place in the PACE centre for the past two years.

Despite having attended the school in Aylesbury, which specialises in children with cerebral palsy, for the past year and half, the county council is now refusing to pay for her transportation.

Hertfordshire County Council told the family that it was only required to provide adequate, rather than "Rolls-Royce" provision for Maddie.

Mr Cowan said: "We want to give her the best education possible, she has good mental ability and when we visited the PACE Centre we felt it was the best school for her, but the county council said no.

"They wanted her to go to Meadow Wood in Bushey but there were various problems, the school wasn't suited to her mental ability and wasn't appropriate."

Mr and Mrs Cowan are now left with sharing the four hour, £20 round-trip every day, despite having jobs, a second child, and another on the way.

They have even offered to meet a council-funded taxi, which takes a child from Radlett to the school in order to share the lift, but this was refused.

The family won a tribunal against Hertfordshire County Council for the right to send Maddie to the PACE Centre. This was then taken to appeal, which ruled in favour of the council.

Mr Cowan added: "After four days in court, it just came down to costs, not what Maddie needs, and that's how we were left.

"We can appeal again but that's more money. I had to pay for barristers to represent us in the appeal, the money I have outlayed on this I will never see again."

The PACE Centre agreed to grant a bursary to pay for Maddie's eduction, but the council still refused to pay for transportation, leaving the job to Mr and Mrs Cowan.

Mr Cowan said: "It's probably costing me £20 a day, and means I don't get into work until late. I've stretched myself financially to the limit with this, we just want what's best for Maddie."

Mr Cowan, who runs a business in Elstree selling overseas property, said he knew of another child from Radlett who was currently travelling to the PACE Centre in a taxi funded by the council.

He said: "I offered to meet the car at the Toby Carvery on the way to share the lift as a compromise but I was told I'd have to pay £40. I'm not asking for a separate journey, or a lift if that child is ill.

"We have dealt with other departments in the council, such as housing, who have been excellent, but this is all based on a tribunal with one side saying A and the other saying X, and the middle ground isn't even considered."

Richard Roberts, cabinet member for children's services, said the council needed to make significant savings over the coming years.

He added: "We are having to make tough decisions about the amount we spend on transport to schools outside the county.

"We have excellent special needs provision in Hertfordshire and we want children to attend appropriate schools with a short journey time to reduce the impact on them and their families.

"There is an outstanding special needs school in the Watford area and the county council would provide free transport to the school.

"If parents elect to send children to a school further afield they need to meet the transport costs."

Susan Hammond, grandmother, added: "Has this little girl and her parents not suffered enough? Do they not deserve some support and empathy? This is the ugly face of bureaucracy. "The actual cost is tiny since they would have had to transport Maddie to a school in Hertfordshire anyway."