A DISABLED man and his diabetic wife have been made ‘prisoners in their own home’ after workers barricaded their drive.


John Dale, 69, and his wife Sue, 67, have lived on Tewkesbury Close in Middlewich for 13 years, and now the new Abbey Fields housing site next to them has left them trapped in their own home.


The couple had no prior warning of what was going to happen and left their house one day to find that the workers from the site had started to dig up the road in front of their house to lay down drains for the new houses.


The work means that metal fences now block John and Sue’s drive and with John’s various disabilities including a fused hip joint meaning he cannot squeeze through the narrow gap left for pedestrians.


Sue says that the whole ordeal is making her ill and is afraid that she may have to move house to get away from it.


Sue said: “I’m diabetic and the whole this is just working me up and making my blood sugar sky high.


“I got really upset the other day and I said as soon as this fence has gone from the front of our house I’m putting this place up for sale and moving out away from this site, and now I don’t know, it still could happen because I’ve had enough.”


Jones Homes have now offered to pay for taxis for the couple to get to where they want throughout the day but they are still not happy. 


John said: “Jones Homes have offered to get us about with taxis, which is better than nothing but we really shouldn’t have to rely on that.


“We have to tell them every time we want to go somewhere and we just want to be able to get out and do it ourselves.”


“Two months ago Sue had to be rushed to Leighton Hospital in an ambulance, but if that happened now, there is no way the ambulance would be able to get anywhere near the house.”


A spokesperson for Jones Homes commented: "We appreciate that, on occasions, there has been limited access to some homes during the day, but this has not been the case in the evening as security has been provided at our own expense to enable residents to get in and out safely. 


"We have also made every effort to accommodate residents, such as paying for a taxi to attend a hospital appointment."