GOVERNMENT changes to the provision of respite care for disabled people has driven Val Kirkum to the Houses of Parliament.

Mrs Kirkum's son Duran, 18, cannot move independently or communicate and requires 24-hour care. She has no family to ask for help.

Before the change in the rules, Duran, who suffered severe brain damage at birth, would stay at a carer's home from Friday evening to Monday once a fortnight.

But under new government rules the carers are deemed unsuitable because they do not have full disabled facilities in their homes and would have to upgrade them at their own expense.

Mrs Kirkum, 45, of Kempsford, said: "Why should these people who are prepared to volunteer have to improve their house at their own expense. It's not fair."

Last week she joined campaigners from Mencap to lobby MPs at the House of Commons and promote Breaking Point, a campaign launched by Mencap to improve respite care provision.

Caring full-time for Duran means Mrs Kirkum would have less time to spend with her 16-year-old twin daughters Chanelle and Fallon.

She said: "I would like to spend some time with my other children before they leave home to go to university."

Her situation was exacerbated by the closure 18-months ago of Shaftesbury Respite Centre in Cirencester because of a £14,000 funding shortfall.

And she believes social services are doing nothing to re-energise the respite scheme and keep it going in the Cirencester area.

She said: "You can't do 24-seven care without a break. No nurse would do it. It's unreasonable.

"I think we need to re-asses the money that's going into the care system, that's the key."

Before Duran turned 18 in March social services had to provide some respite care, a responsibility which ended when he became legally classed as an adult.

Mrs Kirkum added: "I've more chance of finding a Dodo than I have of finding respite care."

A Gloucestershire County Council spokesman said: "We would urge Mrs Kirkum to contact her case worker to discuss her concerns and find out what support she can have access to."