A TOWN council has been ordered to pay £1,000 compensation to a disabled man after he was told to leave his allotment.

Eric Gillingham was served with a termination notice by Ferryhill Town Council when the authority, in County Durham, decided his allotment was too messy.

When Mr Gillingham, who has co-ordination, cognitive and back problems, responded he was told his letter was illegible.

His communication problems arose out of a fall from a roof that put him in a coma for four days.

“After the letter, I tried to arrange a meeting with them, but they said it wasn’t their procedure and that things had to be in writing,” said Mr Gillingham, 54, of Willow Road, Ferryhill.

“I was completely poleaxed.

I thought it was disgusting – I don’t have a problem talking to people, it’s just when I try to write things down, I get things mixed up.

“Not being able to express myself, I should have been in a position where I can actually go down and talk to people.”

At a hearing at Durham County Court on Friday, the town council was ordered to pay Mr Gillingham £1,000 by August 29.

District Judge Gillian Marley declared the council was in breach of section 21 of the Disability Discrimination Act, 1995. She said Ferryhill Town Council failed to provide an opportunity for disabled people to reply orally before ending a tenancy, which discriminated against them.

Mr Gillingham was refused permission to appeal against the amount of compensation.

The council’s bill for the proceedings is thought to be more than £5,000.

A spokesman for the council said last night that it was considering an appeal, and said Mr Gillingham had withheld information which then came out in court.

The spokesman added: “Had Mr Gillingham revealed at the outset that he was registered disabled, with a bad back, then like other tenants in the same position, he wouldn’t have been evicted.

But he wouldn’t do this for nine months and, therefore, the council will have to consider its position.”