The parents of a severely dyslexic boy have spoken of their relief after experts decided his special educational needs would be better served outside Norfolk.

A three-year-battle between the parents of Evan Jones and Norfolk County Council came to an end after a panel decided he would be better off receiving specialist private education than being taught in mainstream school.

The victory means the 12-year-old will attend school for the first time in two years later this year.

The ability of mainstream education to teach special needs children was thrust into the limelight recently when it emerged former education secretary Ruth Kelly had sent her severely dyslexic child to a private specialist school.

The victory for the boy's parents raises questions about the capability of Norfolk's schools to provide for children with severe learning difficulties.

The Rev Ian Jones, chaplain of Wymondham College, and his wife Emma, have spent £30,000 pursuing the matter.

They said: “We are just delighted that we have won this case and we can now send Evan to the best school for him. We look forward to his first day.”

As well as dyslexia, the youngster suffers from dyspraxia and behavioural problems.

His parents claimed schools in Norfolk could not provide the standard of specialist teaching needed and that his development would suffer as a result.

Instead they wanted the authority to pay for him to attend a specialist school outside of the county.

They said: “This is about giving Evan the chance and the tools to determine his own future.

“Sending Evan to a special school now gives him a chance of getting what he needs to learn how to read and write and a way back into the mainstream.”

The county council originally argued he should attend Wicklewood Primary School, in their home village, before offering him a place at New Eccles Hall School, in Norfolk.

In December 2005, the couple lost a Special Education Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) appeal.

Six months later a High Court judge overturned this decision and ordered the tribunal to be reheard. Norfolk County Council were also ordered to pay the parents' costs, believed to be about £20,000.

At the new hearing, the family got the news they have been waiting for and hope to send their son to Eddington and Shapwick Special School, in Somerset, at a cost to the council of about £17,000 per year.

In another Norfolk case, the parents of 11-year-old Rosie Mould, from Long Stratton, who has autism, have repeatedly failed to find her a mainstream school that can cope with her complex needs. Michelle and Dave Mould have now decided to educate her at home.

Norfolk County Council has since announced a revamp of special educational needs aimed at creating an equal spread of schools and resources so children do not have to travel so far to access help.

Under the strategy, 11 special schools will be turned into “complex needs schools” while more “specialist resource bases” will be set up at mainstream school sites.

Michael Bateman, strategy manager for special educational needs at the county council, said: “Norfolk County Council is moving forward with plans to improving provision for special needs pupils, including the building of new facilities and enhanced outreach support services to linking mainstream schools with special schools.”