Bedfordshire boy's anti-bullying Instagram account deleted 'in error'

A 12-year-old boy said he was left "emotional" when his anti-bullying social media account was taken down "in error".

Alfie, from Bedfordshire, started Shine A Light With Alfie two years ago after being bullied at school - and has about 2,700 followers.

He gained support from a host of well-known footballers, including Jack Grealish, Declan Rice and Jill Scott.

Instagram said the account had now been "reactivated".

Lisa, his mother, said: "He shares positive quotes, pictures of himself, with people with the poster he made, regarding his anti-bullying campaign, and it's also about mental health awareness."

She said he has had the support of "lots of people in the public eye" and sharing has been "a big part of raising awareness - the impact bullying can have".

Lisa said she noticed the account had gone while sorting out posts with her son last month.

"All of a sudden we got a message to say that 'this account had been disabled' - and then an email to say it had been permanently deleted because it didn't meet the standards of the rules of Instagram," she told BBC Three Counties Radio.

As the age limit is 13 for the social media platform it "is parent managed", she added.

Alfie said when he thought his work was lost, he said: "It was a bit of a scary experience, nothing like this had happened before and it was a very emotional time."

Now it is back up and running, he is "planning to spread the word more and get more people involved".

"I'm so proud of Alfie, he's turned a really negative experience into something positive, just raising so much awareness and making a difference for others", his mother added.

When Instagram was alerted to the page's removal by BBC Three Counties Radio, a spokeswoman said: "We can confirm on background the account was removed in error and has now been reactivated."

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