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Five-year-old Zach Tahir suffers from a rare medical condition which means he's slowly eating his way through his bedroom.

Zach has a constant need to chew, but as he can't distinguish between food and inedible objects he wants to eat everything from window blinds to the plaster on his walls.

The youngster from Salford, Greater Manchester, who is autistic and cannot speak, has an extreme form of a disorder called Pica.

To keep him safe mother, Rachel Horn, has to go to extraordinary lengths ripping up celery to encourage him to eat it instead of thread and even sprinkling nuts on the carpet.

Rachel has now launched a fundraising drive to build a 'safe room', without objects Zach could try to consume.

Rachel, 32, said: 'He eats almost anything - mud and moss, stones, carpet, grow bags, thread, paper, wallpaper and hair.

'He loves to climb on his windowsill and eat his black-out blind. He likes to have something to chew on at all times. It is not the taste he likes, but the texture.

'It's frustrating as Zach doesn't speak - not one word - and meal times are a nightmare.

He doesn't sleep much and I get exhausted, but unlike other autistic children he loves to give me hugs and he dances.'

Zach, who lives with his mum and sister Isabella, two, was diagnosed with autism and learning difficulties aged three. His Pica, which is believed to be linked to autism, was diagnosed around the same time.

Rachel first noticed her son wasn't developing at the rate of other children when he was nine months.

She is hoping to raise £15,000 to make Zach's bedroom safe, furnishing it with items including a special mattress without seams.

Source : dailymail