A BOROUGH councillor has accused an airline of acting terribly towards disabled people because it wanted to charge him to take a wheelchair on holiday.

Without the wheelchair, David Leeks said he could only walk a few feet because of the effects of polio.

But when he asked BritishJet.com about booking flights between Gatwick and Malta, the airline wanted to charge £2 per kilogram each way to fly his electric wheelchair with him.

Mr Leeks, 52, said: "As they weigh 35 to 40 kilos, that makes it an expensive essential item to take with you.

"It was £174 for two of us to go to Malta, but taking the wheelchair would be £160 on top. If you can't take it with you, you can't have a holiday."

Mr Leeks - who has to use an electric wheelchair because shoulder problems prevent him using a lighter manual one - said no other airline, including budget ones, had ever charged him before.

The councillor, who represents Tadley on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, added: "I have voted with my feet and gone elsewhere. I think it's terrible."

The Disability Rights Commission's Alyson Rose said the charge discriminated against disabled people.

She added: "Somebody's being charged more for a service than a non-disabled person. It's very unfair, but there are no legal rights to protect disabled people when they're flying - the Disability Discrimination Act doesn't cover airlines and shipping."

She urged anyone encountering a problem to write to their MP to push for a change in the law.

BritishJet.com's Sharon Bugeja confirmed the airline does charge £2 per kilogram for the type of wheelchair that Mr Leeks wanted to take with him.

She said: "The wheelchair would be part of the luggage - they have to pay for it. That's the procedure of the company."

Roger Wiltshire, secretary general of the British Air Transport Association, which represents UK airlines but not BritishJet.com, said most association members tried to stretch their weight limits to accommodate wheelchairs, but added: "Some of the modern electric ones are very large, heavy and difficult to handle. They would have the right to charge something on top.

"I'm not saying it's right or wrong. The vast majority of disabled passengers are dealt with free and that's quite right."