Terminally ill man 'housebound' after ramp refused

A terminally ill man who struggles to walk unaided has said he feels "trapped" after a housing provider turned down an application to install a ramp and path outside his bungalow.

John Hargreaves offered to pay for all the work needed and obtain any legal permission to do the job at his home in Nelson, Lancashire, which would allow him to use a mobility scooter.

But Together Housing, which owns the property on O'Hagan Court, refused permission and the 80-year-old said he had not been provided with an explanation.

Together Housing said it apologised for the distress caused and would work with Hargreaves' occupational health advisor to "move this forward".

Retired long-distance lorry driver Hargreaves is on a palliative care pathway after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.

He broke down in tears as he told the BBC: "My legs are gone, I just don't have any strength I've lost that much weight.

"I struggle getting dressed and I struggle going to the toilet and I just want to get a scooter so I can go down on the canal."

In his application to Together Housing on 29 January, Hargreaves had explained how his treatment for cancer had left him "only able to walk a few steps at a time".

He had written: "I am housebound and this is making me feel suicidal."

He asked for permission to have "two fence sections removed" and to get a paved flag path laid and a collapsible ramp fitted "so I can get out of my house".

In the form, he confirmed he would cover all the costs of the work.

Asked what it would mean for him to be able to go out unaided, Hargreaves said: "Oh my, I dream about it at night, just going out to the shop."

He said he had been so bored and isolated he had resorted to counting the flowers in a pattern on his wallpaper.

"I haven't a right lot of time but what bit of time I have I want to get out, if I can get on the canal and you know, just talk to people," he said.

His daughter Rachel Hargreaves, 47, said she was confused by the application being rejected because other bungalows in the development have already had ramps installed.

"I think over the period of a couple of months he's lost about eight stone," she said.

She said her father had gone from taking his dogs on 12-mile walks along a local canal to "basically not even being able to get out of his house".

Rachel Hargreaves said she and her eldest child came to help as much as possible, but her father craved his own independence.

"The most he can do is look out of his window from his chair in his front room, it's it's upsetting all of us really," she said.

"At least they could have said yes to make the rest of his life a bit more pleasurable for him."

Matthew Newman from Together Housing, said it "takes requests for reasonable adjustments seriously" and considered applications on a "case-by-case basis".

"Mr Hargreaves has been clear about his needs, and we have shared our advice on how we can continue working with his occupational health adviser to move this forward," Newman said.

"We want to reassure Mr Hargreaves that we remain committed to working with him, his daughter, and his occupational health worker throughout this process."

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