A mum with a profoundly disabled son has been left devastated after her plans to build a specially adapted home for him was refused at a planning meeting.

Hazel Ransley-Warnes, 46, from Shepherdswell, applied to build a “last resort” house for her 10-year-old son Travis on land next to her parents’ house at Dene Cottage, Meadow View Road.

Their current home in The Terrace can no longer accommodate her son and his growing needs.

Despite being only 10 years old, Travis is almost 5ft and weighs more than 8st. He has a genetic abnormality that Mrs Ransley-Warnes was told doctors had never seen before.

As well as being wheelchair-bound, Travis, who attends Whitfield and Aspen Primary School, is blind, deaf, has a cleft lip and palette, epilepsy and the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

The new house would have given Travis his “forever home”.

She said: “I’m at risk of losing my son because a planning officer thinks I don’t deserve to build a home for a disabled child that’s in desperate need.

"I was devastated at the meeting as my son so needs this. It’s got to breaking point" - Hazel Ransley-Warnes

“He’s profoundly disabled and he has had no bathing facilities for three years, he gets to wash at school twice a week. Access to a shower is not a luxury, it should be a right.

“I was devastated at the meeting as my son so needs this. It’s got to breaking point.”

The family can no longer live at their current home as it cannot be specially adapted for him, and they cannot live with Mrs Ransley-Warnes’ parents as Travis’s wheelchair will not fit through the door of the bungalow.

Unless they can find an alternative, the mum fears her son may have to go into care.

The planning meeting also considered Mark Quinn’s application for Albert Road in Deal. After the meeting, Mr Quinn offered to pay for Mrs Ransley-Warnes’ next application, after being touched by the family’s plight.

This came after the design of the house was criticised, due to its high roof and using agricultural land.

The building needs a high roof to accommodate Travis’ equipment, such as a hoist for his wheelchair.

Previously, the family which includes Mrs Ransley-Warnes’ daughters, Sophie-Louise, seven, Holly-Nicola, six, and Chloe-Anne Marie, five, have tried to get a four-bedroom, specially adapted house through the Southern Housing Group but had no luck.

The mum of four said the new house is supposed to be a replacement building for Dene Cottage but there was confusion about this at the meeting, with the planning officer claiming this was now included in the plans.

The committee said if this was the case, it would want to see the existing bungalow on site demolished to alleviate what was described as a “cramped development”.

"It was awful to see it get refused. There she is with her son and she’s trying to do the best for him" - Mark Quinn, Quinn Estates

Her elderly parents, Patience, 85, and James Ransley, 87, live in the bungalow and would be homeless if it was demolished before the new house was built.

Cllr Bill Gardner said he had every sympathy with the family but they had to consider the application before them.

Cllr Andrew Richardson added that he didn’t like the design because “it has too much roof” and would be cramped.

Cllr Trevor Bond said: “It’s actually the family who are the only people who would be affected by it,” with both him and Cllr Peter Wallace adding that they did not think it was fair to make the family put in another application.

Mark Quinn, managing director of Quinn Estates, said the company will be paying for Mrs Ransley-Warnes’ next application as well as for an architect to redesign the home.

He said: “It was awful to see it get refused. There she is with her son and she’s trying to do the best for him.”

He hopes to be able to make the house cheaper to build and to get a better design that will be approved at planning.

Mr Quinn was touched by what happened and pledged to help her and her family.

He said: “It’s what we are good at. It’s nice to be able to do some good.”