A mother and campaigner warned parliamentarians about the dangers cuts to care budgets pose to adults with autism.

Mary Langan, from campaign group Save Autism Services Haringey, spoke to a cross party delegation at the All Party Parliamentary Group about her son James and his difficult transition into adulthood.

Ms Langan described the difficulties the family faced as James, 23, moved from residential schooling to supported community living.

James became increasingly violent towards others and himself, which she claims is due to a lack of structured support and skilled personnel.

This resulted in him being arrested on one occasion, being removed from a college placement and banned from public transport, his local pub, a swimming pool and a supermarket.

The problem, according to Ms Langan and her fellow campaigners, is the move from school into the community, where there is a lack of structure and too litte support for people like James.

Ms Langan said: “Here we encounter the major current crisis of care in the community; the head on collision between the aspirations of the Autism Act and the Care Act and the harsh realities of austerity, particularly the drastic cuts in local government spending on adult social care.

“Our message for parliamentarians is this: It is impossible to reconcile the interests of people with autism and the current scale of cuts in adult social care.

“Current policies will inevitably result in more scandals and horror stories, but the real burden will be borne by people like James and families like ours.”

Haringey council approved cuts of £24.5 million to adult social care in February.

The move was part of wider budget cuts designed to save £70 million due to cuts in government funding.

This was the first meeting of the parliamentary group since the General Election. Delegates included Labour MP for Hornsey & Wood Green Catherine West, Labour leadership hopeful Andy Burnham and speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow.