A DISABLED couple are still waiting for repair work a year after reporting a leak in the roof which ruined an electric scooter they rely on to get around.

Gerry, 85, and Doreen, 80, Smith, of Quilter Road, Brighton Hill rely on their mobility scooters to get around. bought a new scooter in March 2016 to replace the one Mrs Smith had been using for 12 years.

After using it for a few days and placing it in the garage, their roof started to leak, leaving the scooter covered in water, damaging its electrics and rendering it unusable.

More than one year on, the roof has still not been repaired by housing association Sovereign, nor has the scooter been replaced.

Mrs Smith said: “It’s the primary method we have of getting about.

“It can cost in the thousands to buy an electric scooter that is stable and reliable enough if you have to use it all the time, like we do. We can’t afford to get a new one.”

Mr Smith said: “Around six weeks ago, Sovereign came to put something in place to temporarily hold up the roof, but before then, there has been nothing.

“It’s not good enough really, and it has got progressively worse as time has gone on. If they had come to fix it last year when we reported it to them, it would have been a lot easier.”

The couple hope to have the problem fixed before the winter when it will become even worse.

Mrs Smith added: “We’ve lived here for 43 years and this is one of the bigger problems we’ve had. What do we do? I can’t get about, and if they had done the repairs to the roof when we reported it, it wouldn’t have been half the job it is now. They [Sovereign] were very good when we moved in to help make the house more disabled-friendly, and now they haven’t helped us at all.”

A Sovereign spokeswoman said: “We’re aware of the damage to the garage in Quilter Road and would like to thank our residents for their patience and understanding while we’ve been working on the repair.

“Unfortunately, this is not a simple job, as to fix the roof work is also required to the neighbouring property, which we don’t own.

“We’re in touch with Mr and Mrs Smith and we’re confident we’ll be in a position to carry out the repairs shortly.

“We were sorry to hear of the damage to their mobility scooter and we will visit to see how we can support them.”