A WAR veteran told how he is often left trapped in his bedroom due to work not being done to make his home wheelchair accessible - a problem he’s had for more than four years.

Andrew Bracey, 41, who won four medals at the recent Invictus Games, was confined to a wheelchair in 2005 following a motorbike accident.

He moved in with his now-wife, Sally, four-and-a-half years ago and said he was told by Southend Council that after a year living together the house in Sycamore Grove, Southend, would be adapted for his wheelchair.

However, he is still waiting for the work, which includes ramps for the front and back door, to be done to the house, now managed by South Essex Homes.

He said: “It is absolutely ridiculous. They keep saying they will do it, but are just fobbing me off.

“The house only has a toilet upstairs so I have to go up them on my backside.

“If I want to go out into the back garden, I have to go down the big step on my bum and then pull my chair out after me.

“My parents bought me a temporary ramp for the front, but that moves every time I use it so I always have to check it.”

Mr Bracey, who served in the Army for 17 years including tours in Northern Ireland and Iraq, added that as he lived in constant pain from his injuries and he never knows what mood he will wake up in.

He said: “If I am in a good mood, I can deal with it.

“But if I am in a bad mood, I will stay in my bedroom and only leave to go to the toilet.

“It is absolutely disgusting they haven’t done anything.”

Mr Bracey said wheelchair racing helped lift his mood when he was down.

He was approached by charity BLESMA, which supports limbless veterans, two years ago and started wheelchair racing.

He competed this year at the Invictus Games, for injured veterans, in Orlando in May.

Mr Bracey was proud to bring home two silver medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres races and two bronze medals in the 400 metres and 1,500 metres.

Mr Bracey said: “I don’t think I am quite the next Usain Bolt, but I am aiming to be as quick as I can be. Everyone was saying I will bring medals home.

“The competition was great - the atmosphere was amazing.”

Mr Bracey, who trains five times a week, is hoping for a place at the 2020 Paralympics.

No-one from Southend Council or South Essex Homes was able to respond before the Echo went to press.