An autistic woman has been released from a psychiatric hospital after a long-fought campaign which included her mother writing in desperation to the Queen and Tony Blair.

But today major concerns remain among health experts over why Frances Joy was detained at Lynfield Mount Hospital, Bradford, in the first place.

Frances, 40, spent six months on a secure ward after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act after she was arrested near her home.

She is now getting 24-hour support from a team of live-in carers, funded by Bradford District Care Trust, as part of a care package at the home in Shipley she shares with her mother Olive.

Her carers from Supported Lives a one-to-one Bradford-based support organisation which helps vulnerable people and those with mental health issues live their lives in the community work with her around the clock.

Today Mrs Joy, 77, said: "This is what I wanted all along. I wanted Frances back home but with help, and that's what I've got. She's up and down but it's early days for being back home. She's got to get used to being free again and it will take time."

Mrs Joy was so desperate to get Frances home she wrote to the Queen, Tony Blair and her MP Philip Davies for help.

She said: "Frances should never have been put there. It nearly destroyed her. She was over-medicated and in distress. She's autistic, not mad."

Frances is now on reduced medication taken only when needed.

Mrs Joy said: "The best medication she can have is being here at home where she belongs."

Their ordeal began in December when police saw Frances "chuntering" and wandering in a street not far from her home in Leyburn Grove and arrested her.

Officers took Frances to police cells in Keighley where she was detained under the Mental Health Act.

She was later sectioned and taken to Lynfield Mount.

Her incarceration at the psychiatric hospital caused outrage among support groups and campaigners for better awareness of autism.

Alan Bicknell, head of the National Autistic Society's National Services, said: "I am always very concerned to hear of people with autism being put into distressing situations.

"Our society has been campaigning to make sure all criminal justice professionals such as police officers who come into contact with people with autism are given appropriate training."

Malcolm Budd, director of the Shipley-based Cellar Project, is meeting heads of Bradford District Care Trust later this month to call for a special place of safety in the district where people like Frances could go if they are in trouble.

Mr Budd said: "It's good Frances is home but the big issue is that she should never have been hauled off to a police station and then hospital at all.

"A neutral, calming place of safety would help avoid unnecessary sectioning under the Mental Health Act and hospitalisation."

Professor Kamlesh Patel, chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission, who earlier this week took his seat in the House of Lords as Lord Patel of Bradford for his work within the social work and mental health sectors, has backed Mr Budd's call.

He said: "It's going to be crucial over the next few years that a bulk of the Government's mental health strategy focus goes on investing in community services like Supported Lives."

MP Mr Davies said it was "fantastic news" Frances was home. But he warned: "She should not have been taken away from home."

Frances was diagnosed as autistic two years ago but Mrs Joy believed her condition was triggered by a road accident when she was 13 and her behavioural problems began.

A spokesman for Bradford District Care Trust, which runs Lynfield Mount, said: "The trust works with its partners to monitor the place-of-safety system and provide the best service within the resources available."