A disabled Dundee woman has been locked in a battle with the council for more than a year over “dangerous” stairs outside her home.
Sandra Laing claims she has fallen down the steps outside her close on Sandeman Street at least ten times, leaving her housebound for weeks at a time with injuries to her ankles, knees and back.
Dundee City Council has agreed to cover the stairs in an anti-slip coating but Sandra claimed the work has not been done, despite her multiple calls to the local authority since November 2017.
The 55-year-old, who has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, tinnitus, balance problems, disordered eating and depression, said her pleas to be housed in a building on level ground or in sheltered housing have also gone unheeded.
She said: “I feel like a prisoner in my own home.
“I rarely go out because those external stairs cause me so much anxiety. They’re steep and get very slippy the moment they get even a little bit damp from the rain.
“I’ve fallen down at least ten times over the past 14 months or so because I have balance problems due to my disability at the best of times.
“When I injured my knee I couldn’t go out for five weeks, I had to get friends to bring me my shopping.
“I’m not the only one either; a neighbour also fell and injured himself and even the council staff who have come out have agreed these steps are dangerous.
Sandra added: “The council keep saying they’re going to put anti-slip coating on, but the work hasn’t been done. I was told they were going to do it on Saturday but that’s been and gone.
“My doctors said I should ideally be housed somewhere on level ground, but I’ve been told I don’t qualify for sheltered housing or housing points based on illness, despite being registered disabled.
“I don’t know what else to do and I feel like I’ve been constantly fobbed off.”
Sandra has lodged several complaints with the local authority and is considering going to a solicitor in a last-ditch attempt to have the issue dealt with.
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “We are looking to have this work completed as soon as possible.
“The council has been speaking to the tenant directly about other issues.”
