The mother of a 12-year-old boy with severe epilepsy has called for a meeting with the Home Secretary, after the government allowed just 20 days’ worth of his cannabis oil medication to be released to stop his seizures.

Billy Caldwell had just one of his seven bottles of cannabis oil medication returned by authorities on Saturday, after his condition dramatically worsened and he was hospitalised.

Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, said that he had used his “exceptional power as Home Secretary” to issue a licence for the drug’s use in Chelsea and Westminster hospital on Saturday afternoon.

However, of the six months’ supply of the drug it holds, the Home Office released enough oil for just 20 days.