Disabled children are being turned away from school because of an alleged spat between Kingston Council and Kingston Primary Care Trust (PCT) over nursing.

The full-time nurse at Dysart School in Ewell Road, Surbiton, left her position on March 20, but a replacement was not found immediately and a new nurse is yet to start.

Some of the most severely-disabled pupils were told they could not attend the school and were forced to stay at home for over a week until cover was found on Friday, March 28.

A concerned parent at the school said she believed the delay was caused by a dispute over who was to pay for the advertising and recruitment of the nurse.

She said: "It's appalling. If this happened to able-bodied children there would be an outcry.

"We're supposed to have integrated services for children, with one pot of money, but they're already arguing.

"They knew this problem was going to occur - it's disgusting. These are really vulnerable children and they are not getting any stimulation."

Both the PCT and the council denied there had been any dispute over money and blamed the problem on a lack of available suitably-qualified nurses.

A PCT spokeswoman said: "Kingston PCT understands the concerns recently raised and apologises for the distress that the lack of full nursing cover has caused to the pupils, parents, staff and the governors.

"As a temporary measure we have used an NHS-approved nursing supply agency to provide cover but it has proved difficult to provide full-time cover by nurses with the right skills required for this particular post."

The PCT said it had now offered the position to a candidate but there was no indication of when the post would be filled.

A spokesman for Kingston Council blamed a "London-wide shortage of nurses" and said interim measures "have not worked as well as we would have liked".

He said: "We apologise to pupils, parents, guardians and teachers affected and promise that lessons will be learned."

But the PCT admitted the problem could be repeated because of the ongoing shortage of skilled school nurses.

Steph James, headteacher at Dysart School, said: "Our educational staff are trained to perform a range of tasks under the guidance and supervision of a qualified health professional.

"They are not qualified to take responsibility for overseeing those tasks.

"Recognising the cumulative impact of the lack of school nurse support, the governors took the difficult decision not to allow some pupils with additional needs into school until there was at least regular cover in place.

"Following the assurances by the primary care trust we look forward to having a school nurse back on site as quickly as possible and getting back to our job of providing education and support to all our pupils."