AN MP today vowed to take up the case of a mentally-ill man who is living in a bed and breakfast just months after the way he was treated prompted an outcry.

The move came after the mother of Neil Green said she was "terrified" about what could happen to him.

Neil, 20, was diagnosed with acute attention deficiency hyperactive disorder at the age of seven. Last year he spent more than seven weeks in the hospital wing of a young offenders institution after bosses at Burnley General Hospital said he was too disruptive for their psychiatric ward.

He was arrested at the ward in July after damaging a wardrobe door and being charged with criminal damage..

At the time his solicitor, Dermot Woodhead, said the case was a "sad and sorry tale of shortcomings within the mental health services locally."

He was sent to Lancaster Farms Young Offenders Institute in August. In September he was ordered back to Burnley General for assessment. From there he was moved to a secure unit in Chorley, on the understanding he would return to Burnley General.

He is now living in a bed and breakfast hotel in the Stoneyholme area of Burnley after being discharged from Burnley General Hospital on Wednesday. He left the secure unit at Chorley General Hospital on Monday.

Health officials today said that, following assessments, he was not deemed appropriate for in-patient care.

But the town's MP, Peter Pike, has promised to take up the case. He said: "There are clearly issues of concern here.

"If the family want to contact by writing or visiting one of my surgeries they are more than welcome to do so and I would be willing to take the issue up with Burnley Health Care NHS Trust.

"I cannot intervene unless they raise it with me.

"The mental health services in East Lancashire are due to be restructured in April, that will mean this type of thing happening again will be reduced.

"But it is an area that needs more attention and that is why I have supported the restructuring of the services."

Susan Green, of Hollins Way, Nelson, Neil's mother, said: "He just can't cope and he is not taking his pills. I am terrified, absolutely terrified. I am just waiting for someone to knock on my door and tell me that he is dead.

"He can't cope on his own.

"They have failed him again. It has been a year since he was first admitted to Burnley General and we are back to square one.

"If Neil causes damage to anything or anyone who is going to be responsible? It is just another chapter in a catalogue of neglect."

Neil said he was finding the situation increasingly hard to deal with. He said: "I just want to end it all. I am sick of it and I feel like I can't go on.

"No-one wants to know and I'm not getting any help. I don't know when to take my pills, if I've taken them or how many I've taken."

Brian Garstang, a member of the mental health services team at Burnley General Hospital, said: "The decision of the team caring for Mr Green was that it was no longer appropriate for him to receive treatment in hospital.

"The health services have dealt with Neil for some time and on the basis of the assessments that have been made, he is not deemed appropriate for in-patient care at the present time.

"If people's actions in the community alerted the interests of the authorities, it would then be determined if their actions are related to mental illness or not.

"Then if they are not it is a police matter."

Mr Armstrong also pointed out that Neil has been offered after patient care and has been given an out patient appointment at Burnley General.

Last year, the way Neil's case was handled prompted criticism from Mr Pike, mental health charity MIND and Frank Clifford, chairman of the health watchdog Community Health Council.

He said the case highlighted a lack of secure hospital accommodation for people with problems like Neil.

Coun Clifford said: "I was horrified that that this lad who has had mental illness throughout his life is in Lancaster Farms which has recently had rather a poor report from the Inspector of Prisons."