A mum of three who is providing round-the-clock care for her sick brother is having "a nightmare" battle with the Benefits Agency.

Susan Walker has to get up five times a night to make sure her brother, who is fed via a tube into his stomach, is not choking.

She is desperate to be able to afford respite care to get a break.

Mrs Walker said: "We struggle on from day to day and are absolutely knackered. It's a complete nightmare of forms and having to wait for months on end for some sort of action." Mrs Walker, 39, took in her Down Syndrome brother Nicholas Ayres, 29, when their father died three years ago. He also has cancer.

Mrs Walker and her husband Stephen, of Back Lane, Eynsham, said they have been fighting with the Benefits Agency since last August for just £17 extra a week.

Although the care allowance is paid to Nicholas, its value is in providing his sister with time off from looking after him, possibly by bringing in a paid-for carer.

The Benefits Agency refused to talk about individual cases, but in a statement said: "Entitlement depends on the effects of disability on the person's life and not on particular disability or illness."

Nicholas was given the Idris Price award for bravery at Bullingdon Centre, Oxford, last week.

Story date: Wednesday 10 February

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