A wheelchair-bound 16-year-old girl did not want to go to her high school prom – until she was offered a dress that covered the chair.

Eleanor Ward was taken ill with a rare condition in 2010 and has been in a wheelchair ever since. A full-time student at Hellesdon High School, she went to the prom last night.

The teenager, of Beck Lane, Horsham St Faith, near Norwich, said: 'I did not want to go to the prom to start with, but I was really excited to go after I got the new dress.'

Her mother Andrea Carey said: 'I never thought I would see her go to the prom.

'Her friend Karen Last was getting her prom dress from a lady, who said she had another dress that would suit Eleanor, that was worth £200. Eleanor broke down in tears when she tried it on. A florist in the village has also made Eleanor and her friend corsages free of charge. And GB Digger Hire took the girls to the prom in his Range Rover.'

She said her daughter will be under the care of Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near Aylesbury, for the rest of her life. She suffers from acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which affects the nervous system.