An 84-year-old man with an injured arm has claimed to be trapped in his apartment block because the main door is too heavy.

Peter Batchellier wants housing association Green Square Accord to replace the door at John Kallie Court in Cowley with one that opens automatically.

A spokesman for Green Square Accord said it was working in partnership with Oxford City Council to install a new automatic door-opening system as soon as it could.

READ MORE: Elderly feel 'trapped' in Oxford flats by broken lift

Mr Batchellier, a retiree who lives alone, said he cannot open the current door without help from friends or family, and cannot use the back entrance because he fears falling in the long grass.

He said: “I have been locked in here longer than they have been in the cellars in Ukraine. Sometimes, I get really depressed.”

The door is activated by a button on the inside and a fob on the outside, but requires entrants to manually push and pull it open.

Mr Batchellier, who has lived in the apartment block since 1994, has complained for years that it is too heavy to use.

However, it was only after he suffered a fall two years ago that he started having serious problems. It left him with an injured left arm, and he also now uses a walking stick and stroller.

He said: “In the past it was very heavy but I was full, fit and healthier than I am now.

“For the last few years, we have been fobbed off with excuses like everything else in Green Square Accord accommodation.

“I have got a walking stick and the old wheels that you push. The only time I can go out is if somebody opens the door and then I can get through.

“You have to get it open and keep it open, which of course you can’t do with a walking stick or a set of wheels.

“Before you can get in it hits you. About a week ago, I had a fall outside there trying to get back in.”

Mr Batchellier said he did not trust walking through the long grass at the back door to the building, and said recent scaffolding had made the entrance harder to access.

He said: “When you’re unsteady on your knees or legs, you can’t go walking through grass and you don’t feel safe with all the falls I have had.”

Next door to his building is another apartment block, run by Green Square Accord, where automatic doors are in place.

“The doors open gently on their own and you have plenty of time to get in and out,” he said.

A spokesman for Green Square Accord said: “We are working in partnership with Oxford City Council to install a new automatic door-opening system and all customers will be issued with a fob to allow easy access to the block.

“We are working to get this installed as soon as we can and will keep all our customers informed of our progress.

“In the meantime we have inspected the property and customers can still gain access via the rear door as normal.

“Scaffolding has been up at John Kallie Court while we repair the roof. This work is due to be finished on Monday 3 April and the scaffolding will be taken down within five working days of completion.”