A DISABLED Dudley woman who was forced to sleep on her sofa for 18 months while waiting for adaptations to her home has been awarded compensation by the Local Government Ombudsman.

The local authority watchdog found the unnamed woman waited for almost three years for a specially designed bathroom and ground floor bedroom which guidelines said should have taken only five months to install.

In his report, the Ombudsman outlined a catalogue of delays by Dudley Council starting in September 2015 when ‘Mrs X’ was having to crawl on her hands and knees to her upstairs bathroom.

A local authority occupational therapist recommended a second handrail should be installed on the stairs and adaptations were also carried out to her bathroom, but in December she contacted the council to say the new equipment was not working and she was unable to bath or shower.

Mrs X was told she would have to be reassessed but despite repeated complaints no-one from the authority met with her until August 2016 when it was agreed she needed a ground floor bathroom and bedroom as she was then having to use a wheelchair.

Over the next 13 months the delays mounted as a Disabled Facilities Grant was approved and plans drawn up.

During this time she was forced to sleep on her sofa because she couldn’t get upstairs.

The problems were made worse when an architect and a contractor pulled out of the project and the work only finally started at the end of July 2018.

In the same month, Mrs X complained to the council over the length of time the work had taken.

The authority apologised but refused a claim for compensation unless she could prove she suffered a financial loss.

In his findings, the Ombudsman said the authority was only directly responsible for avoidable delays on its part.

Awarding Mrs X £500 in compensation, he said the woman "was caused upset and inconvenience due to the council’s failure to respond to her emails and calls" and added: “She was also caused distress and inconvenience due to avoidable delays.

“Mrs X slept on a sofa and had difficulty getting upstairs and accessing bathing facilities for seven months longer than necessary.”

Ordering Dudley Council to pay the compensation within one month, he said the authority had accepted his recommendations.