The mum of a little boy who has to wear a custom-made helmet for 23 hours a day is aiming to raise awareness of his condition.

Aaron Brunt, of Cliffe Terrace, Denholme, must wear the helmet to correct the shape of his head, which at one stage was as wide as it was long.

Aaron, who is 22 months old, suffers from plagiocephaly -- also known as flat head syndrome -- which occurs when a baby's soft skull bones are subjected to abnormal or prolonged pressure.

The baby then develops a mis-shaped head. The condition is thought to affect one in 15 children in the UK.

Aaron's mum, Ingrid, first noticed he had an odd-shaped head at around four months. She said: "The paediatrician told us Aaron had plagiocephaly and it would sort itself out, and if it didn't his hair would cover it.

"But by his first birthday it become clear that it wasn't sorting itself out and I started to worry that he would get bullied at school."

An article in a national magazine about a boy with a similar condition, who also wore a custom-made helmet, prompted Ingrid to inquire further about what could be done for Aaron.

Because the treatment was not available on the NHS, Ingrid went to see a private specialist who told her and husband Andrew that Aaron had severe plagiocephaly.

The couple had to pay £1,850 for the helmet, helped by a £850 donation by Aaron's granny Trish Rusch.

Aaron now wears the helmet for 23 hours a day. It comes off only for a bath in the morning and while getting ready for bed in the evening.

He has been wearing the helmet since last November, but his parents hope he will be able to stop once he reaches his second birthday, as the skull fuses around that age.

Ingrid and Andrew have now signed a petition to be delivered to Downing Street on Monday, which coincides with the start of Plagiocephaly Awareness Week.

The petition is calling for health professionals to provide more information and advice to parents.

Plagiocephaly has become more common since the advent of the "Back to Sleep" campaign, which encouraged parents to put their babies on their backs when they sleep to cut the risk of cot death.

However, it can result in babies' heads becoming flattened on the back or side.