Cam couple involved in scooter row told anti-discrimination laws do not apply to them (From Gazette Series)

Cam couple involved in scooter row told anti-discrimination laws do not apply to them

9:54am Monday 18th March 2013 in News By Daniel Chipperfield

A DISABLED couple embroiled in a row over their mobility scooter say they have been told anti-discrimination laws regarding disability do not apply to them.

Since July, Les, 88, and Kathleen Allum, 85, have been told they cannot keep their scooter next to their bungalow on Cam retirement complex Elm Lodge.

This is despite Mr Allum, a World War Two veteran, being confined to the house without it as he cannot manage the steep hill to his car after suffering two heart attacks.

The lodge's committee, made up of current residents, have now renamed themselves the council and continue their insistence that the scooter must go, citing lack of space as their reasoning.

The Allums have fallen foul of the council in the past as they were asked to take bunting down during the Olympic and Jubilee celebrations as well as ordered to stop talking to the press and sending letters to neighbours.

The couple, who have lived in Cam the majority of their lives and been married for 65 years, have most recently been threatened with court action over the disagreement.

Now the couple have heard the 2010 Equality Act, which details what is considered discrimination over disability, does not apply to them.

"One of the council members told a member of my family that the 2010 Act regarding discrimination doesn’t apply to this site because it has been privately developed," said Mr Allum, who is an ex-chairman of the Royal British Legion Cam branch.

"I thought the law applied to everybody, even people visiting the country.

"If you are a common sense individual, it is stupid isn’t it? It is getting to be, on balance, a comic opera, and that’s an insult to comic operas."

Current chairman of Dursley and Cam’s branch of the Royal British Legion, Andrew Cooper, said the organisation was doing everything it could to help.

"It is a source of great irritation to us that a man like Les is dealing with something like this at this time in his life," he said.

"We are offering advice when we can and give moral support. Our effect may be minimal but it has helped in the past."

Secretary of the Elm Lodge Council, Bridget Goring, said they were maintaining a dignified silence and would not comment.