AT the age of 76 I had my right leg amputated below the knee due to a double aneurysm.

I attend James Cook disability centre, in Middlesbrough, for care and adjustments of my prosthetic limb.

Until today, I have always had transport to get me there and back but now the system has changed.

Before, the hospital arranged the lifts, but now I am given a phone number to call to arrange it myself.

I was told I have no chance of transport as I own a car. I hasten to add it is not a mobility car as I was too old to qualify for one.

The reason I did not use my own car in the first place was because of the extreme difficulty in parking near the centre. Unfortunately, this usually necessitated a very long walk which, at 80 years old with an artificial leg is far from easy.

The trips that I must make are also totally at my own expense as, of course, I do not qualify for any financial assistance. I feel certain I will not be alone with this.

When I left the RAF after 22 years service I took a job paying 83p-an-hour and contributed to the system. That doesn’t seem to have been such a good idea now.

Alec Telford, Darlington