FIVE-YEAR-OLD Aaron Peat, left disabled after a stroke, has for three months been without the electric car which helps him to get out and play, because a toy store has failed to fix it.

Aaron, of Sydney Wood Court, Chippenham, suffered a stroke when he was nine months old which impaired his movement and speech.

Doctors said he would never walk but he has amazed the experts by doing so, even though he cannot ride a bike or play football like other boys of his age.

His dad, Kevin, 34, died from a heart attack less than two years ago, and Aaron has since developed a strong bond with his grandfather, Douglas Taviner, who bought him the £400 toy for Christmas from Toys R Us in Bristol.

In the first week he had it, Mr Taviner said Aaron had never been so happy. He was able to get out and about with his older brother, Mark, seven.

But then things started going wrong with the car, and a long-running saga ensued with Toys R Us over repairs and replacement wheels.

Mr Taviner, of Sheldon Road, said: "When he's in his little car he's on equal terms with anybody else.

"He'd had it about a week when the wheels broke, so I got in touch with the store which sent out some more.

"Less than two weeks later another two wheels broke and they promised replacements. We waited five weeks and nothing came.

"I got in touch with Toys R Us again and they promised to come and pick it up, but it took four days longer than they said."

Mr Taviner said Toys R Us eventually took the first car away, but it was more than a month before it was returned, in pieces.

Mr Taviner spent hours putting the car together only to find it wouldn't work again.

He said: "Out of the 16 weeks he's had it, he's only been able to play with it for five weeks," said Mr Taviner, who went into the Bristol store last week to complain in person.

"One of the staff there kept laughing about it. I think it's absolutely disgusting they think this is funny at all," he said.

Aaron's mother Dawn, 35, said the whole experience had been a nightmare.

"This car is brilliant for him getting out there to play.

"Now it's not working he's really miserable and he has been trying to get around by sitting on his brother's skateboard, which isn't ideal or safe."

Mrs Peat said it was difficult to tell how much Aaron and his brother could understand about their dad's untimely death 15 months ago.

She said: "If I say about daddy he points up to heaven and using sign language says 'asleep'. I think it has hit my elder son a lot harder."

Mr Taviner said Toys R Us has paid him £20 in compensation for all the time Aaron has been without his expensive toy.

"I wouldn't normally spend that much on presents but there are certain things Aaron will never be able to have and it was the only thing he wanted," he said.

"Toys R Us told me he had overused the car in the first week, but I don't think it should be selling something for that money if that's how long it's going to last. Aaron has to fight every step of the way to achieve what he does."

The Gazette has made repeated calls to the Toys R Us head office since Friday to ask them why there had been so many problems with Aaron's car and why it had taken so long to fix.

On Tuesday, the company said that it had decided not to comment.

jbishop@newswilts.co.uk