An elderly man faces becoming housebound or moving to a care home after he was refused permission to install new steps to his front door.

Malcolm Wells, 70, moved to Limetree Close, Wayfield, with wife Sandra, 68, from Lordswood three years ago.

At the time, the 25 steep and uneven steps up to his property were not a problem but last year he underwent an operation which left him with blood clots in his leg and lungs.

Since then, Mr Wells has found it increasingly difficult to tackle the ascent and now requires help from four relatives every time he goes out.

In order to keep him in his home, his family decided to build a ground floor extension for him to live in and replace the stairs with an s-shaped design with larger, wider steps.

Medway Council gave them the go ahead to build the living quarters but blocked the rest of the works saying the design would harm the look of the area, despite none of the neighbours objecting to the proposal and one writing in support of it.

The retired window fitter moved back to Wayfield because many of his five children and 20 or so grandchildren and great grandchildren live in the area. He hoped they would be able to look after Sandra if he ever got ill.

But now he says he faces the choice of leaving his home or becoming decreasingly mobile.

Daughter Tracey Gillis, who lives in nearby Walderslade Road, said: “All the houses down the street have had work done so we don’t see how this is any different.

"Dad is a dedicated family man and the prospect of moving to a care home is devastating.

“To add insult to injury they’ve forked out thousands on this and it turns out because of their age and dad’s illness they didn’t need to, the council knew that but it’s claiming it didn’t.

“We started work on the stairs thinking it wouldn’t be an issue and as soon as a building inspector came out to look at the extension and suggested we required planning permission we downed tools. The neighbours keep asking when it will be finished.”

Medway Council says because information about Mr Wells' condition was not included in the application, staff could not make an informed decision.

Head of planning Dave Harris said: "All planning decisions are made in line with policies in the Medway Local Plan and the national planning policy framework. The planning application was refused as it was not in keeping with the local area.

“We contacted the agent to explain why it was going to be refused and were not made aware of any further considerations."

But Mr Wells family say the authority's employees were fully aware of Mr Wells' issues.

They are appealing the decision.

Read more: All the latest news from Medway