Exclusive: Parents are cleared over claims they starved son

Lisa and Paul Hessey have spent 12 months in a battle for their son Zak, who was taken by social workers when hospital medics raised concerns over his "failure to thrive".

The two-year-old is now back with his family, but spent four months living with foster parents because the authorities insisted his parents were at fault and were not feeding him.

The couple said their suspicion that Zak was autistic was repeatedly ignored, but specialists have now confirmed his eating problems were caused by the developmental disorder.

Since he returned to his family, Zak has remained at the centre of family court proceedings involving social services, but a judge yesterday ordered the case be discontinued.

Furious Mr and Mrs Hessey told the Yorkshire Post that their name had been "dragged through the mud" and said they now planned to launch a legal claim for compensation.

Mrs Hessey, 28, of Bolsover, near Chesterfield, who has four other children with no health problems, said after yesterday's hearing: "It has been a total nightmare but now it's over.

"We wanted to clear our names because we didn't do anything wrong. We just wanted the best for Zak. When we took him to hospital we never thought this would happen.

"Even our GP and health visitor thought he could be autistic but the doctors at the hospital refused to listen to us when we tried to tell them, they were determined to take him."

Mr Hessey said: "I am extremely angry that we have been put through this, and I want action taken immediately so nobody else suffers like we have."