Disabled man forced to dial 999 after inconsiderate parker left him stranded in the cold near his Milton Keynes home

Kevin Scardifield, 65, was refused help by the emergency operator and told to dial 101 instead.

"I thought I would be stuck there all night and freeze to death in the road," he said.

Mr Scardifield is in constant agony from a rare neurological condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, keeps his mobile phone for emergencies only. Because it has no sim, he is only able to make 999 calls.

He returned from a residents' association meeting in Netherfield at 9pm last night (Wednesday) and found a BMW had parked on the pavement across the area of dropped kerb that he uses to get to his house in Farthing Grove.

Ironically he had raised a complaint at the residents' meeting about inconsiderate parkers causing problems in his street.

"I have a power wheelchair and it can't get up normal kerbs. Without a dropped kerb, I'm totally stuck," he said. "But cars park right across these ramps, often right up on the pavement itself, so wheelchair users and mums with buggies are forced out onto the road.

Mr Scardifield considered making a lengthy detour to access similar dropped kerbs - only to find these too had been blocked by selfish parkers.

"I was well and truly stuck. There was nobody around for me to ask for help. My wife was in the house but I had no way of contacting her. I honestly believed I'd be out there all night and found dead in the morning," he said.

"I called 999 because, in my mind, it was a life and death emergency. But the operator didn't want to know. He kept telling me to go round the car and I kept telling him that my wheelchair couldn't do that and I was stuck.

"He said it wasn't a life and death situation and I should call 101 for help. I told him three times th\at my phone could only make 999 calls, but he wouldn't change his mind."

You can listen to a recording of the call on the video above.

Eventually a nearby household noticed Mr Scardifield's plight and came outside to help. They knocked on doors and checked the Farthing Grove shops opposite in a fruitless bid to find the BMW owner.

Finally they used paving slabs from their garden to build a makeshift ramp, then moved their own car to divert the wheelchair across their driveway.

"They were brilliant. But by the time I got home I was frozen and in agony," said Mr Scardifield, who had bare feet because his illness means it is too painful to wear shoes or socks.

He has today been in touch with Milton Keynes Council to repeat his request for double yellow lines to be painted along at least the ramped area of Farthing Grove.

"I don't hold out any hope. I've asked them several times and nothing has been done," he said.

In the past, Mr Scardifield has gone out in his wheelchair and knocked on every door in his stretch of road, urging householders to park considerately. He said police have also sent letters to residents requesting the same.

"It made no difference at all. People still park on the pavement and across the ramps, without giving a thought to disabled people like me," he said.

The Citizen has asked MK Council whether it was planning to place parking restrictions in the stretch of Farthing Grove opposite the shops. We are awaiting a response.