SIGNED football shirts auctioned for hundreds of pounds has helped an autistic child on his way to receiving help from experts in America.

Jenny and Kevin Gough, parents of seven-year-old Dean, received the support of friends and family to man the phones in Aylesham, near Canterbury, as calls came in from sports fans wishing to bid for the shirts on offer. They included England, Arsenal, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Tottenham and Gillingham kit.

Other trophies up for bidding included a signed copy of Elton John's Candle In The Wind CD, a signed Everton pennant, Chelsea poster and Leicester City goalkeeper Ian Walker's gloves.

Though the money raised is still being counted, it appears the auction, organised by retained Aylesham firefighter and Kent Messenger Group photographer Paul Dennis, raised another £1,000 towards the £8,000 to £9,000 needed for a stay at The Autism Treatment Centre of America in Massachusetts.

The centre is home to The Son-Rise Program, a treatment that has proved effective for adults and children with autism.

Created by American authors and teachers Barry and Samahria Kaufman when their son Raun was diagnosed as incurably autistic, the programme teaches parents educational tools and techniques to help them be effective teachers and trainers to their child. It has enabled autistic children to improve in areas of learning, development and communication.

Jenny attended a course at the programme's British base in Enfield and found it so beneficial to Dean that she has already booked onto the course in Massachusetts next October.

She said: "With the cost of flights and everything we will need about £9,000. Before the auction we had £5,000 and I am sure we can raise the rest before October, but we want to raise it as soon as possible because it is stressful worrying about the cost."