THE family of an autistic teenager have won their fight to get him funding for a place at a special college.

After months of negotiations, Lancashire County Council has agreed to a top-up grant for 16-year-old Timothy Rosen, of Brierfield, so he can attend the college in Sunderland for a full year.

Timothy missed the first part of term because of the wrangling over whether the county should fund four weeks of the 42-week course in Sunderland run by European Services for People with Autism.

The college agreed to take Timothy at the beginning of October and take a gamble on receiving the money.

Gordon Coates, the partner of Timothy's mother Kate Rosen, said he was delighted the county council had reversed its original decision if a little mystified.

He said: "They sent us a two-page letter which basically outlined why they were not responsible for funding Timothy

"Then in the final paragraph they said they were going to -- we're delighted.

"The college stuck its neck out for us really but now it's going to get the money."

The bulk of Timothy's course is being funded by the Learning and Skills Council but because of national guidelines, they were only allowed to fund 38-week courses.

ESPA said that in such cases, social services departments from all over the country have paid up the top-up fee, believed to be around £4,000. But Lancashire County Council was refusing to pay.

Mr Coates, who works at the Sandy Lane site of Accrington and Rossendale College, in Accrington, said the decision to fight the county council had paid off because Timothy was very happy in Sunderland.

He said: "When he came home for half-term we couldn't believe the change in him.

"He wouldn't stop talking about the place and he had made lots of friends.

"It's been quite a transformation but they've offered him the sort of specialist care he really needed.

"We would like to thank everybody for the support they've given us. The phone barely stopped ringing with well-wishers."