A GREENOCK dad who lost his leg in a horrific coach crash is having his disability benefits slashed and his vital mobility car taken away from him.

Alan Robb loved his job as a coach driver but his life changed forever when he was involved in a serious crash in Wales three years ago.

Miraculously, the 49-year-old survived the crash but his injuries were so severe that doctors had to amputate his lower right leg.

Alan, who struggles to walk, says every single day since the accident has been a battle due to the devastating impact it has had on his life.

Now, to add insult to injury, he has another fight on his hands after benefit bosses decided to drastically reduce his disability payments — and they are also demanding that he hands back the specially adapted mobility car that he relies on.

He told the Tele: “I think it’s an absolute disgrace.

“I worked all my days and paid all my taxes until the day of the accident.

“Through my actions on the day of the accident, I saved the lives of the passengers and other road users.

“But they are not interested in what you have gone through.

“I was forced to apply for Personal Indepence Payment, or PIP, which I was awarded at the enhanced rate due to my disability.

“Now the Department for Work and Pensions have cut my money drastically and are taking my mobility car off me, saying that a prosthetic leg is an aid, and therefore I can walk no bother!

“How can someone sitting at a desk in Wolverhampton decide what I can and can’t do and how it affects me on a daily basis?

“I have appealed this but in the meantime, I have to live on vastly reduced benefits and the fear that my car will be taken away at any time.”

Alan’s ordeal began on February 2014 when the coach he was driving was involved in a multi-vehicle crash.

He said: “I was involved in a coach crash on the M4 just outside Newport.

“I had 57 passengers on board, an Argentinian school group, and my actions saved their lives and the lives of other road users.

“As soon as the coach stopped, my first thought was to get the passengers off the coach.”

But Alan had been seriously injured in the collision, which destroyed the

front of the coach.

He said: “As soon as I looked down, I knew my foot was crushed and that there was a 99 per cent chance that they wouldn’t be able to save it.

“I knew it was coming off as three or four weeks before the crash I had undergone my Driver Certificate of Professional Competence course and we were shown photos of crush injuries.

“So when I looked down, I knew I had to prepare myself for bad news.”

Alan was airlifted to Morriston Hospital in Swansea by the Wales Air Ambulance unit and doctors said he was lucky to be alive.

He said: “They said they didn’t know how I managed to get out of that alive.

“I was on a lot of morphine at the time but everyone said I just took it in my stride and that I wasn’t really that bothered by it.

“When I phoned my partner Karen, I told her not to worry, I wasn’t seriously injured, I just might have to lose a couple of toes.”

Alan spent two weeks in hospital in Wales before being transferred to Inverclyde Royal where he spent another three weeks before he was allowed home.

Since then he has been getting used to his prosthetic leg and battling to complete simple daily tasks which he used to take for granted.

He has also been left so traumatised by the accident that he is unable to use public transport.

But Alan says that one of the hardest parts about his ordeal is not being able to work.

He said: “Life has changed dramatically. I can’t work, which is the worst part of the accident.

“I have worked all my life with coaches and taxis and I even ran the snooker league and was always active and played football.”

Alan says that one small comfort he had was being able to drive again thanks to a specially adapted mobility car.

He said: “I can’t do without it — I need the mobility car to get out and about.

“I also need it to get to any appointments as my prosthetic clinic is in Sheffield, so I have to drive down there.

“After the accident, I was diagnosed with adjustment disorder which means I have panic attacks when I go on buses.

“I can’t use public transport, so I have to use the car or taxis.

“The car is my lifeline.

“If I didn’t have the car then I would be stuck in the house.”

Alan was stunned when the DWP informed him they would be taking his mobility car away later this month.

They have also reduced his PIP money, cash which is supposed to help him with some of the extra costs caused by his disability.

Alan said: “I think it’s scandalous that they are targeting the most vulnerable people with disabilities.

“I can’t drive a normal car because of my disability.

“They have also cut my PIP payment from £448 per month, £228 of which paid for the car, to £85 per month or £21 a week.

“I get £67.20 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit a week which I’ve been told I’ll get for life yet they won’t award me PIP for life — it doesn’t make any sense.

“I don’t have enough money to live on.”

Alan says he was summoned for an assessment in Glasgow back in November.

He said: “I had to go up to Glasgow in November and without the car I wouldn’t have been able to go. It would’ve cost me about £80 in taxi.

“The assessor said to me ‘you should be okay Mr Robb, the criteria says that you must be able to put both feet on the ground but you can’t because you only have one foot’.

“She then watched me from her room, struggling to walk to my car.”

Alan, who has been supported by his family, including his partner Karen, has appealed the decision.

When the Tele contacted the DWP about his case their spokesman proceeded to defend their position.

He said: “Decisions for PIP are made following consideration of all the information provided by the claimant, including supporting evidence from their GP or medical specialist.

“As has happened in this case, anyone that disagrees with a decision can appeal, and has the opportunity to provide further evidence in support of their claim.

“There are 70,000 more people on the Motability scheme than there were in 2010 and most people leaving the scheme are eligible for a one-off payment of up to £2,000, which can be put towards the purchase of a car if they wish.”