AN ARTHRITIS sufferer has been forced to carry out her banking in the street after councillors twice turned down plans for her branch to build a ramp for the disabled.

May Chadwick, 68, claims when she went to the NatWest in Blackburn to make a withdrawal she had to sit in her wheelchair while a cashier counted out £300 cash in the street and brought the forms outside for her to sign.

And she was furious to learn that the branch in King William Street had twice applied for planning permission for a ramp and been refused.

She has praised Blackburn with Darwen council's new Shopmobility scheme, which lends motorised buggies to disabled shoppers, but said it is almost useless if premises are not accessible.

May, of Albion Street, Ewood, Blackburn, said: "I've been pushed in a wheelchair for three years and it's a wonderful thing to be able to go shopping on my own. The shopmobility scheme gives me such independence but there are so many shops I can't get into."

May visited the NatWest to withdraw £300 for a shopping trip but said: "There's no way I could get in because of the steps. I didn't realise how humiliating it was going to be. It all had to be done in full view of dozens of people walking past." She said she was frightened of being robbed by someone who had seen her take the money. She later phoned the manager and was told the bank had applied for permission and been refused. She said: "It just makes me so angry that no-one thinks about disabled people. Even though the council and businesses pay lip service to disabled people, when you are in the situation I'm in, you are constantly made angry by things like this."

Branch manager Graham Cooper said: "When we have disabled customers, we usually send someone out to deal with them. We can help them in if they prefer.

"The bank's policy is to make all branches accessible to disabled customers and we were disappointed when permission was declined."

Chris Clenton, a spokesman for the NatWest, said the bank applied for permission before the street was pedestrianised and was refused because the ramp would block the pavement.

He said the bank re-applied in September and was again refused on grounds that it was a listed building and the metre-wide ramp would block the free flow of people along the pedestrianised road. He said: "I was surprised that we got turned down. We can get round a listed building refusal by changing the design but the refusal for being an obstruction is something I can't do anything about.

"We could go to appeal but indications are we would lose unless the council has a change of heart about disabled access on that street."

A spokesperson for the council said the NatWest could discuss the design with planning officers to try and find ways to make the ramp acceptable.

She said: "As it was the ramp might have been an obstruction for visually impaired people but the main reason for refusing the application was that it was not in keeping with the listed building.

"They could discuss with our planners before coming up with a design."

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