Government minister Ruth Kelly has strongly defended her decision to send her son to the £15,000-a-year Bruern Abbey prep school, in Chesterton, near Bicester.

Ms Kelly said she was acting on the advice of educational experts when deciding where to send her son, who has learning difficulties.

The former Education Secretary said she had taken the child out of the state sector after she was told he needed specialist support "as soon as possible".

The decision had been criticised by a number of Labour colleagues.

Ms Kelly, now the Communities Secretary, said her other three children would continue to be educated at the same state school her son had attended.

She reiterated that the taxpayer would not be asked to meet the costs.