A wheelchair user has criticised the lack of disabled access throughout Cardiff and has called on the council to improve services.

Diane Short, 61, from the Cyncoed area of the city, has used a wheelchair for 10 years.

I think that Cardiff as a city is not geared towards the disabled Diane Short

She is angry her travels throughout the city are hampered by uneven pavements and difficult access points.

Her comments come as Cardiff prepares for the Wales launch of the European Year of Disabled people on Monday.

"I think Cardiff, as a city, is not geared towards the disabled in the maintenance of the roads, pathways and access to a lot of places," said Mrs Short.

"Generally I don't think the council take into consideration that there are disabled people about.

"It is not just only in the centre but in the suburbs such as Albany Road in Roath, which is an atrocious area to be if you are in a wheelchair or are disabled."

Mrs Short has difficulty with the uneven surface in Queen Street

Mrs Short also wants to see more automatic doors installed in the main shopping arcades in the centre.

"I have encountered huge big swing glass doors on some of the arcades in Cardiff particularly and if you are in a wheelchair you can sit there for five, sometimes seven minutes until somebody realises," she said.

"I think this is discrimination not only for the disabled but for young mothers with prams."

Mrs Short said she has complained to her local councillor but that nothing has been done.

We strive to ensure that there is adequate disability access on all of the sites and buildings we own and maintain Cardiff Council spokesman

"All through Queen Street there are these dug out drains and you have to avoid these," she said.

"Then there are the uneven kerb stones - so you try and avoid these and you bump into somebody.

"It is just a small thing and people may think it is petty but to me and people like me it is not petty.

"I pay rates and I pay for the upkeep of the city and I feel I should have a good a choice as anyone else," she said.

The director of the Disability Rights Commission in Wales, Will Bee said: "The problems faced by Mrs Short in accessing shopping areas in Cardiff are shared by disabled people in towns and cities all over Wales.

"However, significant change is in the pipeline," he added.

From 2004 the law will require that barriers which make life hard for disabled people will have to be removed or altered.

Resurfacing

Cardiff council, which do not own the shopping arcades in the city centre, have defended their disabled access policies.

A council spokesman said: "We strive to ensure there is adequate disability access on all of the sites and buildings we own and maintain.

"We would encourage other organisations and companies to do likewise."

The council said that resurfacing work along Queen Street was being undertaken in stages.

Brian Vaughan, the maintenance manager for one of the biggest arcades in Cardiff - the St Davids Shopping Centre - said a refurbishment project was under way.

"This issue is actively being looked at and we hope to replace some or all of the doors with automatic and semi automatic doors," he said.

He hoped the work would be completed by March.