A disabled mum claims she has been forced to live like a recluse for nine years amid a battle to get a ramp installed outside her home.
Dawn Steel has been trapped in the Solihull property ever since she had a whole knee replacement shortly after moving in.
She says she has to get groceries delivered, needs an ambulance to take her to routine hospital appointments and in the event of a fire would be forced to "fall out of the patio doors".
But despite council funding being secured for a ramp, the company that manages her flat in Shirley has reportedly failed to install it, stripping her of any independence, BirminghamLive reports.
Now the 58-year-old cancer survivor can't remember the last time she went outside.
The mum-of-two is asking for a wheelchair ramp to be installed outside the home so she can get in and out with ease.
But freeholder Pennycuick Collins, who Dawn pays £2,000 a year in property management fees, has been blamed for holding up the process.
It declined to comment when asked for a response.
Council funding has even been secured for the ramp, meaning the works wouldn't cost the company a penny, but Dawn claims it has still refused to sign off on the works that would stop her from being stuck indoors for 24 hours a day.
"I feel like a recluse in my own place," she said.
"People used to moan about being stuck in with Covid for a month or two, but try and do it for nearly nine years without seeing anybody.
"What kind of a life is that? Why should I have to move? Why should I? I bought this flat when I could walk. Why should people try and get me out? I like it here and I couldn't afford anything else."
Now, Dawn is pursuing legal avenues and has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a solicitor.
The mum-of-two is hoping to raise £1,500 to cover fees and believes the case could help others who risk being forced out of their homes due to disability.
The funds will be used to pay for solicitors to investigate and try to resolve the license issue without the need for court.
Dawn is due to find out in March if her cancer has returned and said the stress of the situation has led to her feeling anxious and depressed.
"It's just got worse over the years because I'm stuck in here and I don't see anyone," she went on.
"It's just one step forward and two steps back. I want to put them to shame."
Dawn told how she would have been "lost" without her two grown-up children.
But she still spends long periods alone with her thoughts and fears what might happen in the event of a fire.
"Everybody else can walk out, but what about me?" she added. "Physically and emotionally I'm a wreck."
Daughter Laura said her mum felt "trapped" and kept crying.
"She's not able to leave the place on her own," Laura said.
"My brother bought her a mobility scooter to get her out but she's been waiting so long for them to sort [the ramp] out."
Shirley councillor Max McLoughlin has been involved in efforts to resolve the issue and assisted Dawn with the crowdfunding page.
He said he hadn't dealt with anything like it during his time as a local representative and couldn't understand why it was in the property firm's interest to delay the work.
"They initially said some residents may be concerned it will affect the price of their flats," Cllr McLoughlin explained.
"But the actual plans for it won't impact the value of the property, it won't detract from the appearance and we are signing a license agreement that it will be returned to its original condition after it is no longer needed."
Cllr McLoughlin said he "genuinely" didn't understand what the hold up was.
"It makes no sense to me, I can't think of a logical or rational reason," he said.
He added that problems usually stem from funding but in this situation that didn't apply.
"What I've experienced before is that it can be really hard to get hold of funding and the grants for people to get this work done," Cllr McLoughlin added.
"That's where the big hurdle usually is but it seems really weird that someone would have a problem when it is costing them absolutely nothing.
"If you are in an apartment and someone has a ramp to their property, that has absolutely zero bearing on the value of your property.
"The fact that someone else lives within a wheelchair in the property isn't going to have any impact on your insurance, on your resale value or anything else."
Mirror Online has contacted Pennycuick Collins for comment.
