A SONG written by a disabled Redditch father in tribute to his son who has autism has gone viral, with more than 80,000 Youtube hits.

Peter Sanford wrote and recorded the song I.L.Y for his son Gabriel to raise awareness of the struggles faced by families with special needs children.

The song was uploaded to Youtube on Saturday, April 8 and within days attracted tens of thousands of views.

Mr Sanford said: "I.L.Y has received nearly 100,000 hits on YouTube in ten days and is resonating greatly with those in the ASD, and wider, community and is a beautiful song part of a musical theatre project about Gabriel’s struggles and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in general."

Six-year-old Gabriel travels to Dublin, Ireland, with his father to receive treatment for his autism from Professor Michael Fitzgerald.

Mr Sanford, who had a serious accident in 2009 which left him barely able to walk, pays for treatment and evaluations for Gabriel abroad by selling his instruments.

He added: "I am forced to take him due to the appalling cutbacks in social care and disability treatment in the UK.

"To raise further awareness of the disgraceful mess the Conservative government has made in callously reducing welfare payments for disabled families and children I produced a tribute song for Gabriel.

"Despite this abusive treatment Gabriel has flourished and his speech and communication, at one time thought to be so poor that nursery considered him probably mute, has flourished."

To listen to the track, go to youtu.be/YIHEzLIpNe4.