'Health and safety fears have left me a prisoner in my own home' (From This Is Local London)

'Health and safety fears have left me a prisoner in my own home'

9:00am Friday 10th July 2009 in

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An amputee determined to return to his normal life says health and safety fears have left him a prisoner in his own home.

Simply to leave his ground-floor flat wheel-chair-bound Garry Thatcher is forced to tackle a gauntlet of often stinking bins as he squeezes through a communal back door.

Mr Thatcher, of Pollards, Maple Cross, says his problems could easily have been solved if the owners of the block, Thrive Homes, would agree to replace the six-inch door-step at the front of the block with a small concrete ramp.

The 60-year-old civil servant, however, says he was told that such a move would constitute “a risk to the health and safety of other residents”.

So far this decision, originally taken by Three Rivers District Council before last year’s transfer of all social housing to Thrive, has not been reversed.

Mr Thatcher, who lost his right leg because of complications with his diabetes, said his disability had effectively rendered him a “second class citizen”.

He said: “It’s utterly ridiculous that a small ramp is a risk to health and safety. I couldn’t believe it when I heard. How can a ramp be any more dangerous than a six inch step?

“My neighbours, who are all wonderfully supportive of me, have no problems with it – especially those with young children and pushchairs.

“As things are there is a temporary ramp at the back door which I have to use. Sadly this takes me past the bins, which are often very smelly, and round the back of the building up a slight hill. I am not strong enough to get myself out there and my wife struggles to push me.

“I do find myself avoiding going outside unless I really need to. I really feel like a prisoner here; like a second class citizen forced to use the tradesman’s entrance.

“I’ve just learned that I cannot have a prosthetic leg fitted and will be wheelchair-bound for the rest of my life. I’ve accepted that and want to get back to as normal a life as I can. This is holding me back.”

A spokesman for Thrive Homes said the company did not agree with the council’s health and safety assessment and, in theory, had no objections to the building of a ramp.

The company stressed, however, that it would not fund the necessary building works because Mr Thatcher owns his own home.