THE father of a Down's Syndrome patient has criticised changes to the region's home oxygen service.

John Hewitt, 72, from Darlington, is the second person to contact The Northern Echo in recent weeks with concerns about large and unwieldy oxygen cylinders replacing more user-friendly gas containers.

These changes, which follow a shake-up in UK home oxygen services, have caused practical difficulties for vulnerable and elderly people.

Suppliers BOC have admitted that many people in the region who need oxygen at home are likely to be given large hospital-style cylinders.

From February BOC will no longer be supplying oxygen cylinders to pharmacies in the region.

A new company, Linde, has won the contract to supply cylinders directly to people's homes in the North-East.

Earlier this week Paul Evans, 64, from Darlington, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and needs oxygen 24 hours a day, was horrified when a delivery driver dropped off two large hospital-style oxygen cylinders instead of smaller versions. The new cylinders are too heavy to be moved easily and he fears he may have to sleep downstairs because he cannot get them up the stairs.

Mr Hewitt, whose 28-year-old son Phillip needs oxygen, said: "I am not happy. It is so heavy. I can hardly move it."

A spokesman for BOC said the company had been "swamped" with the demand for smaller cylinders and could now only supply hospital-style cylinders.

However, he said patients should not have difficulties in getting small white cylinders which can be carried easily.