ELDERLY and disabled residents say they were left stranded after snowstorms because repeated requests for a grit bin have been ignored by the authorities.

People who live in the flats on Inverkip Road near the BP filling station were left unable to get out for days after the recent heavy snowfall.

They say they have been asking housing bosses for grit bins in their car park for a decade but Oak Tree Housing have snubbed all their pleas while council bosses say they cannot intervene either.

The car park at the flats has a series of slopes and leads onto a busy main road, which makes it treacherous in icy weather.

Mum Debbie McGachy, 36, whose baby daughter has a rare medical condition, said: “We have been fighting Oak Tree for 10 years. 

“We are not looking for preferential treatment but the car park backs on to a main road.

“If you slide out on the hill and get stuck on the main road, you just have to hope that the traffic on either side would stop in time.”

Specialist nurses visit Debbie’s house every weekday but could not get in for a week because of the weather.

When they did manage to attend, a nurse had to park her car in the petrol station next door.

Debbie says those who are fit and able within the block are quite happy to dig snow away but she says they still need grit to stop their car park freezing straight over again.

Myra McMillan, 70, said: “When it snows or freezes it always lasts longer up here and everywhere you walk is on a slope.

“We’ve said to Oak Tree that the residents want a grit bin, but they said it’s up to the council, who say it is private land.”

Lesley Wilkie, 50, has lived in the block for a year and moved there because the flat has disabled access for her husband David.

She said: “Oak Tree maintain the communal ground, the grass and bushes and pick up rubbish, so why are they not responsible for the car park?”

Alex Couper, 76, who uses a wheelchair, and his wife Mary Couper, 72, were left housebound due to the recent slippy conditions.

Mary said: “We were prisoners for days.

“Why won’t Oak Tree give us a grit bin?”

Kathleen Middlesworth, 61, who has lived in the block since it was built 10 years ago, has a serious lung condition.

She said: “I have a genetic lung disorder and need oxygen 24 hours a day. I’m on a transplant list and I was worried that if I got a call from the hospital in Newcastle the other week then I wouldn’t have been able to get out.”

Council officials have told the Tele that as the access road and parking are for residents only it is not classed as a publicly adopted area, meaning Oak Tree are the owners and responsible for any maintenance and gritting requirements within that area.

But Oak Tree bosses are sticking to their guns over the grit bin request.

Nick Jardine, director of the housing association, said: “Grit bins are not a service we provide.

“There was a question raised about this at our AGM.

“We have been advised by both our insurers and lawyers that it is not a service we could operate efficiently.

“We do provide grit bins in our special needs facilities and staff are responsible for them.

“We are looking at various aspects of how the adverse weather affected our service.”