PostieOAP faces £7k lift bill after ramp judged dangerous

[TrueBlueTerrier]

OAP faces £7k lift bill after ramp is judged dangerous

http://www.northlondon-today.co.uk/tn/N ... 20faces%20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;£7k%20lift%20bill%20after%20ramp%20is%20judged%20dangerous

A DISABLED pensioner has said he feels like a prisoner in his own home after being refused a wheelchair ramp and told to pay thousands of pounds for a lift instead.

Retired postman Tony Eckett, 77, had his leg amputated in October after it became infected. He returned home for Christmas, but after a visit from Enfield Council Adult Social Services he was told that despite his house having ground-floor access, a ramp would be too dangerous to install.

Instead he was told the only alternative was to have a £15,000 wheelchair lift fitted at his home in Myddleton Avenue, Enfield, and that he would have to pay £7,000 towards the cost.

The grandfather-of-three said: “I haven’t got that amount of money, but when I said that they told me to get a loan. Who’s going to give a loan to a 77-year-old man with one leg?

“I will be receiving hospital treatment for the rest of my life for kidney failure, so I have to leave the house quite a lot.

“Without my lovely wife Joan I would be a dead man by now, but I do feel like a prisoner in my own home.”

An Enfield Council spokeswoman said the authority was working towards finding a solution to the problem, which is made difficult by the steps leading to Mr Eckett’s house.

She added: “A step lift would resolve the problem, however, it is clear that more discussion needs to take place, so we have arranged for an at-home manager to visit Mr Eckett next week to help him fully understand all options open to him.

“The grant and financial assessment process will also be explained in some depth, and through this work it is hoped to achieve an acceptable outcome.”

[smokerjim]

Isn't there some sort of GPO / RM benevelont association that could help? Why not get the Cour*er involved....it'd make their day, helping out an ex-employee that's been given the shaft by authority ( with a bit of luck, they won't even spot the irony either! )