An elderly woman says she is a prisoner in her own home while two local authorities argue over paperwork.

Disabled and wheelchair-bound Joyce Parrott, 76, of Saxon Close, Wallingford, has not been able to get out of her house for eight weeks.

"All we need is a ramp to one of our doors so that the wheelchair can get down it - that's all we are asking for but no one seems able to provide it," said her 70-year-old husband John.

The house is owned by South Oxfordshire Housing Association which said it needs a formal referral from Oxfordshire Social Services before anything can be done.

Housing operations manager Clare Huyton said: "So far we have not received one."

But the social services department at Abingdon said the paperwork - which contains all the necessary measurements for a ramp to the Parrotts' home - was issued and sent to the housing association on July 23.

Mr Parrott fumed: "While they are arguing about who has done what, my wife is stuck indoors."

Mrs Parrott, who suffers from osteoarthritis and diabetes, became wheelchair-bound earlier this year.

The couple spent £2,500 on an electric wheelchair to help her get out and about. Mr Parrott has a serious heart condition and cannot haul an ordinary wheelchair up and down steps and kerbs.

Mr Parrott said: "She wants to go out in our garden, down to the shops or just meet people.

"But at the moment she is a prisoner in her own home - it is just not good enough."

The housing association said it will treat the matter urgently.

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