A DISABLED York man with an agonising back condition says he is housebound after officials decided he should lose his mobility car.

Former plasterer Chris Paylor, 37, of Poplar Street, off Poppleton Road, said he had had a Motability car for four years after doctors discovered he had fibrosis encasing his spinal nerve.

He said the condition has left him in constant agony and needing a lot of morphine-based pain relief medication, but at least the car allowed him to get out of the house with his wife Vicky and children, Tia, ten, and Rhys, eight, in which he could have a lie down when he needed.

He said that under his former benefit, Disability Living Allowance, he was given the funding for a car but, under the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) system which has been introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP,) he was put on the standard rather than enhanced rate, which meant the vehicle would no longer be funded, and his wife had to return the vehicle last week.

Vicky said they had asked the DWP to look at the decision again and sent a letter from their GP, stating how bad her husband's condition was and how he would never recover, but that wasn't enough and the car had to go.

“My husband, who has previously had two break downs, has become very depressed, as have I," she said.

"As a family we are disgusted with the DWP. You see people who can walk or use public transport on the highest rate with cars and my husband who is now going to be house bound. It's disgraceful. It could take up to six months for the appeal and we might not even have a chance of winning.” She said the car was especially high because Chris found it too painful to get in a low vehicle, such as a taxi.

She said their problems had started five years ago when Chris slipped a disc whilst at full time work as a plasterer, and he underwent an operation in July 2011 to remove the disc, but as the pain got worse an MRI revealed the fibrosis had developed as a consequence of the surgery.

"By 2014 his pain started to increase again to the extent he couldn’t crawl never mind walk with his crutches.

“He was on the floor for six weeks and in and out of hospital with the pain. In January 2015 he had another operation for another slipped disc but again the pain was a lot worse and after another MRI we were told the fibrosis was worse but there was nothing they could do."

A letter from his GP's surgery had said he suffered from severe back and leg pain and was on strong painkillers and had 'significant functional limitations in his day to day activities', and added: "Significantly, his mobility is restricted.'

A DWP spokeswoman said decisions on eligibility for PIP were made based on all the available evidence, including from a GP, and claimants could appeal against those decisions.

"At any point in the process an individual can submit further evidence to support their case," she said, adding that Mr Paylor was appealing against his decision at a tribunal.

She also said the majority of people leaving the Motability scheme would be eligible for a one-off payment of £2,000, which would help ensure their mobility needs continued to be met.

"Decision-makers take account of all available evidence sourced in a numbers of ways, including face-to-face assessments, medical examinations and informal observations."