THE family of a man with special educational needs has accused Bucks County Council of 'bullying' as in a dispute over his care and where he should live.

The father of the 31 year-old man, who has a learning age of about ten, claims that officials have brought about enormous anxiety and stress about his wellbeing and future.

The county council pays for the care of the man, who his family have asked not to be named.

The dispute arose when he was reassessed in November 2011. His social worker said his care was too expensive at the flat in Hazlemere, where he has been living, close to his parents' home, since 2006.

She suggested he might move into a residential home where his care would be cheaper. His family said this left him distressed. The council wanted to carry out a full reassessment.

But moves by officials to speak to him on his own, without his family present, angered him and his father, who has power of attorney, and they refused.

The parties have been in deadlock and the family lodged a complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman.

The father, from Hazlemere, who wished to remain anonymous to protect his vulnerable son, told the Free Press: "We feel that the county council has been bullying with the way it’s handled our case.

"It has caused us a lot of stress, anxiety and worry not knowing what’s going to happen and having the situation up in the air for so long.

"The council is meant to be protecting vulnerable adults but in my son’s case it seems to us that it’s doing the opposite.

"God knows what will happen to my son if he’s forced to move elsewhere. He’s settled and comfortable and able to cope in his current place, we don’t want to do anything to risk that."

He also hit out at the ombudsman, saying an eight month delay in responding to their complaint was not acceptable and called the initial investigation superficial.

The father said: "The constant chasing meant we felt we were fighting the people that we hoped would help us."

The council said it does not discuss publicly the cases of individuals and would not respond to the criticism.

The LGO said the investigation is still open, therefore it will not comment on details of the case.

A statement read: "Both the complainant and the council have received our provisional findings, where they have the opportunity to make comments on these before we reach our final decision, which we expect to arrive at soon.

"We aim to conclude all investigations as quickly as possible, however some cases are more complicated than others and will take longer to complete."

County Hall is responsible for adult social care and its budget for this in 2012/13 was £109.8m, rising to £113.9m this year.

Adult social care supports 9,638 people with a range of services.