A disabled woman, who has been housebound for ten years, has had her lifeline snatched away by an archaic law.

Doris Barker, 75, of Laindon, has been severely disabled since contracting TB in her knee when she was five.

She recovered enough to get married but the disease flared up again after her only son was born.

Aged 23, doctors were ready to amputate her leg, but she ended up having her knee joint removed and a new kneecap made with bone from her hip.

Now she is riddled with severe arthritis in her legs and her arms and her hands are so badly affected she can hardly use them.

But her world opened up the day her devoted husband, Albert, 76, blew his savings on a gleaming £4,000 two-seater, battery-operated scooter.

For the first time in years, she was able to venture as far as Basildon town centre for some window shopping.

Her first outing was such an occasion Albert bought her a new jacket.

He said: "She looked a million dollars. I was so proud and happy. We sang all the way down the road, and she had ice cream and chips. Now it has all been taken away and she is a prisoner again."

The bombshell came in a letter from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions stating the widely-advertised two-seater scooters cannot legally be used on the roads or pavements.

The Department's mobility unit has already raised the issue with the manufacturer.

Under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 an invalid carriage is specifically just for one person.

But Albert said: "Who wants to pay £4,000 just to ride around the garden?"

Brentwood-based dealer Upson Mobility Vehicles has agreed to refund his money, less insurance. Salesman Simon Lawler said it came as a shock to learn it could not be used on the road or pavement.

Harmar Roberts, product manager for Days Medical Aids in Bridgend, which imports the vehicles, said his firm had received conflicting advice from the Government. Once the situation was clarified, every dealer had been contacted.

Mr Roberts said: "There is a definite demand for this product, but if the country follows the law of the land we are not going to get very far with the Disabled Discrimination Act."

Albert wants a change in the law.

"This has deprived Doris of her legs. I am so downhearted I could cry.

"I wouldn't mind paying a tax if it means happiness for Doris and lets her see the world. She should not have to sit in a chair day in, day out for a law which is 30 years behind the times."

Off the road - Albert and Doris have been told they can't drive around in their shiny new buggy

Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.