Daniel Zeichner MP visited a Cambridge mum raising funds to support her 7-year-old severely autistic son Owen who has been hit in a nationwide scam.

Donna Lovett, of Lavender Road, Kings Hedges, wanted to buy a special kind of assistance dog to support her son Owen who was born with a severe type of autism which causes him to lash out and sometimes put himself in danger by hitting his head on the floor or running into walls.

Donna sent £250 to Service Dogs Europe but was later stunned to find the bogus dog training firm had no intention of sending her a trained assistance dog.

Donna has been in touch with her MP and more than 20 other families who hve been conned out of tens of thousands of pounds for untrained assistance animals.

Service Dogs Europe, which has now folded, is being investigated by industry regulators.

Daniel Zeichner MP, who is backing Donna, has raised the issue in parliament and asked Action Fraud to intervene. He said: “Con-men like this are the lowest of the low. This is an outrageous scam that has taken money from vulnerable families.”