A GROUP of parents led by a family from Farnham are battling to bring their autistic children nearer to home to avoid a repeat of the Winterbourne View scandal.

Surrey is one of the wealthiest counties in the country, yet it has no provision for a large group of severely autistic young adults who are presently having to live outside the county.

Vulnerable people can often be situated in care homes hundreds of miles away from their families and home and can easily become 'out of sight and out of mind'.

In 2011, one such care home, Winterbourne View in Hambrook, was exposed by the BBC Panorama programme after an undercover reporter entered the premises as an unqualified support worker.

The reporter filmed the care home in secret over a period of four weeks, exposing the physical and verbal abuse carried out by people who were believed to be loyal and caring support workers.

For full story, see this week's Farnham Herald.