THE daughter of a stroke victim claims the Vale of Glamorgan Council have made her father a "prisoner in his own home," after being stuck in his third floor flat for more than two years.

Norman Ford, 67, had a debilitating stroke in June 2015 which left him with severe weakness to his right side, frequent muscle spasms and no longer able to walk more than 10 to 15 metres unaided.

After being discharged from hospital, it quickly became apparent that Mr Ford would no longer be able to manage the 10 flights of stairs up to the third floor Barry Island flat where he had lived for 15 years.

Reliant on support from his daughter, Natalie Lapton, 26, and more recently from Hafod Care, Mr Ford needs support to carry out most daily tasks.

Ms Lapton contacted the Vale council on her father's behalf after his return from hospital and asked to have him put on a waiting list for a more suitable, ground floor property. She was assured he would be placed in the Gold Plus band – the highest priority movers – under the council's 'Homes4U' scheme.

Two years later, Mr Ford remains in his property and estimates he has left his home just 15 times during that period. He says he has currently not been outside for more than a month.

"I’m scared to go downstairs," said Mr Ford. "I’m frightened that if I do go downstairs I’ll fall.

"If I do eventually get down there, I don’t want to come back up. Several times I’ve slept downstairs on my scooter.

"Many times I’ve felt suicidal."

Ms Lapton says that she too has been left feeling hopeless over her father's predicament.

"I’ve been begging for help for so long, it breaks my heart," she said.

Mike Ingram, Vale council head of housing and building services, said: "The council fully appreciates Mr Ford’s situation. We are sorry it has not yet been possible to find him more appropriate housing, but are hopeful this can be resolved in the very near future.

"Unfortunately, there is a shortage of suitably adapted social rented properties in the Vale, which results in a longer wait for applicants who require homes of this type.

"We are ensuring that all new social housing developments being built by both the council and its Housing Association partners include a number of adapted and accessible homes."