A WHEELCHAIR user was left dangling over a kerb – after the path from a bus stop to a road crossing was fenced off.

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, Wroughton grandfather-of-three Andy Freeman now uses an electric wheelchair.

The 52-year-old has a specially adapted car, which friends and family are able to use to drive him to the shops.

A former truck driver, Andy is used to tight corners. But he found himself hanging over a ledge when he attempted to take the bus from his Wroughton home to Waitrose.

The stop is serviced by a Stagecoach 9 service and Thamesdown number 11 bus.

Andy said: “I went to Waitrose on the bus just for a change – then I realised that it wasn’t happening.”

After getting off at the Foxham Way bus stop on a trial run, Andy motored off to find a place to cross the road and meet a friend at Waitrose.

He found his way blocked by a set of railings. Andy tried to squeeze through the 20 inch gap between the end of the railings and the kerb.

Andy said: “When you get off the bus and go to get down you suddenly realise you can’t get down the drop kerb, because it’s surrounded by a railing.

“Luckily there was a gap between the railings and I didn’t side swipe off the kerb. I slid a bit. There was overhang – luckily only on the castor wheel.

“I just about scraped through.

“Luckily, I was only there for nick nacks. If it had been a full shop it would have been awful.”

Andy’s friend, David Manser, was in the car at Waitrose – waiting for his disabled friend to arrive.

“I was waiting forever,” said David, 75, who met Andy two years ago through church.

“Andy’s wheelchair is 21 inches wide. He was struggling because he only had an inch left before he fell off the kerb.”

Picking up Andy’s wider manual wheelchair, former WH Smith manager David said: “With this one you wouldn’t be able to get off. You’d have to wait for the bus and go back home again.

“Andy knows all the drivers and they’re quite happy to drop the ramp for him. But now the bus stops on the wrong side of the railing it’s not a lot of good to him.”

Andy, who travelled as far afield as Hawaii and Kenya with his wife before she passed away, said: “I enjoy the challenge of getting to the shops in the wheelchair. But you realise what will happen if I misjudge it by a matter of millimetres – I’m out of my chair.

His message to the council was clear: “You need to get a dropped kerb in.

“When you look at it you suddenly realise you’re stuck. You just can’t move.”

The council suggested that the location of the bus stop would be scrutinised as part of forthcoming improvements.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “We are looking to make some improvements to the bus interchange in this area and the location of the bus stop and its accessibility will form part of that work.”

It is not known when the improvement works will start.