A PORT pensioner has criticised the amount of time it takes to get a designated disabled parking space in Inverclyde.

Ina McIver applied before April and will have to wait until next year before she gets a slot outside her home.

But the 65-year-old says she cannot wait any longer as her health is deteriorating.

Ina and husband Herbert, who live in Northfield Avenue, both have serious medical conditions.

The great-grandmother has one leg shorter than the other and her condition causes the thigh bone to soften and break down.

She also has arthritis and doctors are recommending a knee replacement.

Ina, 65, said: “My mobility is getting worse and it’s getting to the point I can only go out in the car once a week.

“I can’t walk any distance to get in and out of the car.

Ina received a letter from Inverclyde Council on 9 April to say her application had been approved but says she will have to wait another five months before it will be officially passed.

Ina said: “I’m frightened to go out in the car in case I can’t get parked.

“A few times I’ve had to walk from the end of the street and I’m very breathless.” A council spokesman today confirmed that the process for getting a disabled parking bay outside a house can take up to nine months.

He said: “The council is legally obliged to follow a statutory process to grant a disabled parking space and this can take between six and nine months depending on the time of year an application is received.

“The final decision has to be approved by a full meeting of Inverclyde Council after first being approved by the relevant committees and after appropriate consultation where any objections have been resolved.

“The council fully appreciates the difference a disabled parking space can make to people’s quality of life and aims to process and approve applications as quickly as possible once all of the relevant information has been received from an applicant.” Disability campaigner and local councillor Jim MacLeod says he would like to see the process for parking bays work a lot quicker, but added that the local authority is restricted in what it can do to improve the situation.

He told the Telegraph: “It takes around nine months from start until finish.

“I wish the procedure could be speeded up.

“There’s nothing worse than not being able to park your car, especially when you have mobility issues.

“It is due to the bureaucracy of the system and this is not necessarily the council’s fault.”