A disabled man said he is “absolutely disgusted” that he has had to wait more than two weeks to get his stairlift fixed.

Kenneth Vine, of Windrush Valley Road in Witney, has been forced to climb his stairs on his hands and knees to get to his toilet and bedroom.

The 76-year-old has had both hips replaced and had surgery on his back two years ago to stop a bone pressing against his spinal cord. The operation means he now loses balance easily and falls over often, making climbing stairs an “absolute nightmare”.

Eighteen months ago, he had a stairlift installed in his Sanctuary Homes property, where he has lived for 42 years.

But it broke down on February 29. He contacted the housing association immediately and it informed its contractor, Pickings Lifts, which sent out a repairman on the same day.

But the repairman said the stair lift needed a new battery and he was unable to fix the problem.

Pickerings sent another repairman to replace the battery on March 9, but this did not work.

It was not until Thursday, the day Mr Vine contacted the Oxford Mail, that Pickerings sent out another repairman – but he was also unable to fix the problem.

Mr Vine said: “It is an absolute nightmare for me to get upstairs to go to the toilet or bathroom, and if I fall down the stairs I fear I would be in hospital a long time.

“I have soiled my pants a few times trying to get upstairs to go to the toilet.

“It is not very pleasant.”

He added: “I think the world is a very cruel place.

“It is ridiculous that I have got to wait this long for a stair lift to be fixed that is 18 months old.”

Sanctuary Housing regional manager Christa Ripley said: “We are sorry for the inconvenience Mr Vine has experienced and will be talking to our contractor to ensure it does not happen again.

“We have arranged for an engineer to visit Mr Vine and get the stair lift back working again as soon as possible.”

The Oxford Mail contacted Pickerings Lifts but the company did not provide a comment before the paper went to press.