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October 17, 2011

Mobility scooters deemed a ‘health and safety risk’

Sheffield pensioners have been sent ‘threatening’ letters telling them their mobility scooters will be taken away from them if they continue to park them beneath the stairs in their flats because they pose a health and safety hazard, reports the Sheffield Star.

According to the newspaper, the letters, from housing officer Steve Willis, identified the scooters as a possible fire hazard and warned residents: “If the items are not removed by one month they will become the property of Sheffield Council and will be disposed of. You may be charged for the cost of disposal.”

The pensioners claim their scooters are not a hazard and they have nowhere else to put them. They say if the scooters were parked in a storage facility away from the flats, as suggested by the Council, they wouldn’t be able to access them easily and they would effectively become prisoners in their own homes.

A draft policy on mobility scooters is being considered by Sheffield Homes, which manages homes on behalf of the Council. Under the policy, tenants might not be able to take scooters to housing schemes unless there is storage available for them.

Councillors are urging Sheffield Homes to reconsider its stance. However, councillor Harry Harpham pointed out that there had been a fire in a communal landing at a tower block in Stannington, Sheffield, caused by a mobility scooter last December.

Click here for the full story in the Sheffield Star.

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