House 'confines girls to wheelchairs'

The twin girls have to use their exercise equipment at home

A woman has claimed her twin daughters may have to use wheelchairs for the rest of their lives unless they are re-housed.

Sharon Tasker's four-year-old daughters Orlanda and Marissa both have cerebral palsy.

They need specialist walking equipment to help them learn to walk, but Mrs Tasker said their home is not big enough to use it.

Brighton and Hove City Council said the Taskers were a priority case, but said family homes with disabled access were in short supply.

The equipment the girls have is designed to exercise their leg muscles gently and strengthen them.

The more they build up the muscles the better chance they have of walking Sharon Tasker

Mrs Tasker said because the equipment is bulky and involves her daughters moving about, they need more space to use it than their present home provides.

She said they also needed to move because their upstairs bathroom is not wheelchair-accessible.

She said: "You have to move everything out of the way all the time.

The girls have to be carried upstairs to use the bathroom

"If we had more space and the girls could use their equipment it would build up their leg muscles, which they haven't at the moment got.

"The more they build up the muscles the better chance they have of walking and they would be able to walk around the house and build up those leg muscles.

"If they can't then they will be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives, so there isn't really much choice is there?"

Mrs Tasker said the council had shown her four properties, but none of them were wheelchair-accessible because of steps.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it acknowledged it had a duty to the family and promised to do everything it could to find them a suitable home.

It said the Tasker family had an "over-riding" medical priority, but said there was a shortage of family-sized homes for families with disabled children in the city.