Council yet to fix door too narrow for wheelchair

A man has said it is "depressing" that his north London council has yet to undo work that made his front door too narrow for his wheelchair.

For the past year, former electrician Peter Jeapes, who lives on the Noel Park estate in Wood Green, has had to rely on his carer to push him in a manual wheelchair.

In May, Haringey Council apologised to Mr Jeapes and told BBC London that necessary adaptations to his house were a "priority" but he is still waiting.

The council said that taking action had "taken longer than we would've liked" but the door would be redesigned as soon as possible.

Mr Jeapes, who lives alone, has rheumatoid arthritis and has limited mobility.

The narrower door frame, put in by the council as part of a wide-scale refurbishment of the estate, is not accessible for his electric wheelchair.

Instead his manual one needs to be folded up then pushed out by his carer while he must walk with an aid to get outside.

"It's quite depressing because you have to rely on someone else and it takes away your independence," he told BBC London.

"If I could go in the electric [wheelchair] I'd at least have some independence."

The local authority also said it was in regular contact with Mr Jeapes about the situation adding: "A number of options have been explored so we can find a solution to increasing the width of Mr Jeapes' doorway without causing further disruption to the existing design."

The council added that it had visited the property on 13 August and confirmed the door would be redesigned to accommodate his wheelchair.

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