A wheelchair user's complaints about the problems he faces in getting around his village are being used as a rallying cry for action to help disabled people.

Inconsiderate drivers, and high kerbs are just some of the obstacles Brian Carey, 72, has to negotiate as he makes his way from his bungalow in Darras Hall, Ponteland, to the local shops or postbox.

Now his daily struggle to make his wheelchair journeys safer and easier are being taken up his local council in a drive for access improvements on local streets.

Mr Carey, a retired industrial pharmacist who lives with his wife Kathleen, 69, in Darras Road, is permanently disabled by multiple sclerosis.

He says his journeys through the village streets are becoming increasingly difficult because of the numbers of vehicles parked across pavements and the lack of dropped kerbs for wheelchairs, which means he sometimes has to reverse off the pavement into roads used by traffic.

Mr Carey was one of a number of people who attended a recent meeting of a Castle Morpeth Borough Council select committee to give their views on disabled access issues.

Now the authority is to write to Northumberland County Council and other agencies to raise the issue.

Mr Carey said: "I have lived here for 15 years and problems like vehicles parked on pavements and the shortage of dropped kerbs are things I face every time I go out in the wheelchair.

"If there are no dropped kerbs, it is necessary to go backwards in a wheelchair down a pavement. The risk of that is in itself significant, but the risk of doing it on a road where there is traffic is a very substantial problem."

Mr Carey's concerns were echoed by Kathleen Almond, also of Darras Hall, who said: "I've got a scooter and sometimes I'm on pavements and have to reverse off and use someone's drive. There are a lot of places you go and can't get any further as there are no dropped kerbs."

Penny Bould, Parliamentary, media and campaigns officer with the umbrella group the British Council of Disabled People and a wheelchair user herself, said Mr Carey's concerns reflected a national problem. She said: "Every day disabled people, especially wheelchair users and those with mobility impairment, face these problems with pavements.

"We do feel very angry about people who park over pavements or dropped kerbs. We really need the public to be educated about this and for local authorities to put more investment into things like dropped kerbs."

A Castle Morpeth spokesman said: "All public buildings have to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act but there are no set rules for roads and pavements, meaning an access lottery for people in wheelchairs."