A ROSYTH woman says she is a "prisoner" in her own living room being discharged from hospital with a wheelchair which won't fit through her door.

Linda Dickson, 72, can't get out of her downstairs room as her Sherbrooke Road home is not adapted to her mobility needs.

She is unable to get out of her living room and is reliant on carers coming in four times a day – and help from family – to look after her.

The wheelchair provided for her is too wide to get through her doors which has already caused issues for paramedics who attended when Linda recently suffered a heart attack.

Despite efforts, going back years, to get a suitable council property, she said she is now losing hope that her confinement to the one downstairs space will ever change.

She had hoped she would be allocated one of two nearby bungalows which would allow her to live more independently but was saddened – and frustrated – to hear they had now been given to other people.

"I was told I was top of the list for years and years," she said. "They told me I had 170 points and that is as high as it can get. They say they feel sorry but that doesn't help when I am lying here at 2am and I have had an accident in the bed and have to lie on that until 6am or 7am until the carers come in.

"I haven't had a shower for 11 weeks or washed my hair.

"I am not saying I am more special than anyone else because I am not but I cannot do anything. I sit here. I have bed sores as I can't move. My feet are so dry and I cannot stand on them. Once they come and put me to bed, until 7.30am or 8am, that is me. I am trapped in bed until then.

"I have other illnesses I have to cope with and I cannot cope with it all anymore. I have told them I can not sit here for the rest of my life in a chair looking out the window. I cannot get to the front door.

"If I had a wheelchair that would get through the door, I could get myself a drink if I am thirsty in the night. I am just a prisoner. I am locked away even though I haven't done anything."

Linda, who has four grandchildren and one great-grandchild, said she worries that an emergency could happen and she would be unable to escape from her home.

"If there's a fire, I would be trapped if I am on my own," she said. "When it gets to 8pm and they put me to bed, I think oh God. The curtains get shut, the doors get locked, it is like being in a tomb all on your own. I sit and listen for that door opening at 7am to get me up.

"They are saying they have a shortage of houses so where are they looking. Why not be honest and say there are none?

"At first I was coping because I thought it will happen but as every day goes by, I think it is not happening. My legs are getting worse because they are weakening. I cannot see the end of this. This is my bedroom, bathroom, toilet and kitchen. I can not move out of here. I am stuck. I don't want to live like this. "They have asked me to consider Inverkeithing but my granddaughter stays over the road and my daughter is close as well and they don't drive. When I took a heart attack, I would not have been here because my family would not have got here in time but they were here in four minutes.

"They have told me there is a shortage of houses but what do I have to do to be eligible? There were two sitting empty here for months. "

Fife Council say they are working to help Linda.

Housing manager Claire Mackinlay said: “The council is supporting this family and working with them to find suitable accommodation to meet their needs.”