A PARALYSED man has been left trapped in his home after a council sold his back garden without telling him.

Stunned Ross Cromarty found out when a neighbour approached him and asked: “What are you doing in my garden?”

Council tenant Ross, 36, discovered the woman had bought the land from North Tyneside Council for just over £1,000.

Ross was left paralysed from the chest down and in a wheelchair following a car crash 14 years ago.

He paid £2,000 for a ramp to be built from the back door of his bungalow in Backworth, so he could enjoy relaxing in the back garden.

But Ross has now been told by the council that they are building an 8ft fence at the end of his ramp - blocking access to his garden.

Ross paid for a ramp to be built at the backdoor of his home but has been told the council are now building a fence that will block the end of it
He will also lose half of the patio area, which he paid to have built himself, at the end of the garden.

Ross said: "It's not easy for me to just have a walk around the streets like other people. I like to come and chill out in my garden.

"I'm scared to leave the house now because if they put the fence up when I'm not here what are the chances of me getting that down. I would be stuck in the house.

“It’s bad enough being like this without the council thinking they can walk all over me.”

Ross is now taking his case to the Housing Ombudsman.

Phil Scott, Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure at North Tyneside Council, said: "The land in question was a shared access area and has never formed part of Mr Cromarty's garden.

"Mr Cromarty's concerns have been thoroughly investigated through our complaints process and as part of this process we have apologised to Mr Cromarty for not informing him of the land sale adjacent to his garden, prior to the sale."