A BRAVE little boy who has beaten leukaemia trotted off to join his new school pals today.

Lee Dallagher, five, settled down with classmates at Kirkroyds Infant School, New Mill, after the half-term holiday.

And he hopes to enjoy the rest of the term, having spent much of the past 12 months in hospital battling the disease.

Lee is now in remission and still needs regular sessions of chemotherapy and steroid treatment. But his mum Tracey, 30, and dad Tony hope that the worst is over.

Tracey said: "It has been a terrible year but hopefully now things can improve.

"It was on March 1 last year that I became worried and took Lee to the doctor. He kept coming home from school with bruises and had a very bad nose bleed, so I took him to the surgery.

"The doctor immediately referred us to the Royal Infirmary and after tests there Lee was admitted straight away that night to St James's Hospital in Leeds.

"He was there for 13 days and had a huge amount of treatment to combat the leukaemia.

"He was very brave but was very, very poorly.

"He has been in and out of hospital over the past few months but the doctors tell me he is now in remission and we can look ahead with optimism. He's very much a typical five-year-old, with temper tantrums and someone who wakes me at 3am in a morning wanting something to eat!"

Tracey - who has two other children Kane and Kerry - moved from Birkby to Thongsbridge last year and Lee has now started at the New Mill school.