Ref. 28242-32DISABLED Tony Vaughan has lost his battle to get Swindon's poorly performing Social Services department to pay for alterations to his home.

Wheelchair user Tony wanted Social Services to install a ramp and make other alterations to his bungalow in Davenwood, Stratton.

The 66-year-old, who has had his left leg amputated at the knee and suffers from severe arthritis in his other leg, relies on his wife Mary, 43, to help him get in and out of his house.

When she is at work he has to get out of his wheelchair and crawl on his hands every time he leaves or enters his home.

He asked the council for help in February and it took until June before an assessor visited him and agreed that alterations to his council-owned bungalow were needed.

Tony was hoping the council would pay for the work, but Social Services said he didn't qualify for financial help because his wife has a job she works as a part-time cleaner.

He says that as a pensioner he cannot afford to pay for the alterations, which will cost about £4,000.

Now he has accepted the council's offer of an interest-free loan, which he will pay back at the cost of £45 a month.

But he is still angry. He led a successful campaign for better disabled access at the Royal International Air Tattoo last year.

He said: "I have got no choice, if I want the work done I will have to pay.

"I am not happy about it, but I just want my independence.

"This has been going on too long, I can't really afford it but I am desperate."

Besides a ramp, Tony wants an area of hard-standing laid on his lawn and needs the kerb lowered so he can park his specially adapted car off the road.

Swindon Council's Social Services department which has received a zero-rating for its performance for the past two years said that Government guidelines had been used to assess how much Tony would have to pay.

Its service manager John Hughes said: "It would be lovely if the council could pay the full cost of jobs like this.

"Sadly, we don't live in a perfect world and budgets are tight.

"The only way that we can share our resources around all the people that need help is to try and match what we can offer against people's ability to pay."