A COUPLE'S struggle to take care of their two disabled children in cramped conditions has finally ended.

Helen Blackburn and Alistair Howe, from Frosterley, made an impassioned plea to Wear Valley District Council to find them suitable accommodation for their family after struggling to cope in a three-bedroomed terrace home.

The couple, who established the Weardale charity Independence 4 Disability, have two young disabled boys fast outgrowing their village home.

Four-year-old Jake, who is the inspiration behind the charity, suffers from cerebral palsy, is spastic, quadriplegic, epileptic and registered blind.

His brother, James, eight, has autism, epilepsy and learning difficulties.

Daily life is becoming a constant battle as they try to negotiate their way around the family home with Jake's wheelchair and lifting him up and down the stairs to use the bathroom.

But this week, members of Wear Valley District Council's central resources committee voted to allocate a plot of land at Lynndale, Wolsingham, for a bungalow.

Director of housing Michael Laing told the committee at its meeting on Wednesday that the council had no properties now or in the near future that could be adapted to accommodate the family.

He said the land in Lynndale had been identified as an ideal site for a bungalow and Three Rivers Housing Association had funding to build the new home if the council would give up the land.

He said: "We have an obligation, as a council, to meet the needs of this family. Their current accommodation is causing them serious problems.

"All support for the family is in Weardale. The grandparents live in Stanhope and give a high degree of assistance and the community of Weardale also gives help."

The meeting voted unanimously to give up the capital it would receive by selling the land and lease it to Three Rivers for a peppercorn rent.

The decision now needs to be approved by the Secretary of State and the District Valuer before the deal can be sealed and the building work start.

The family attended the meeting and Miss Blackburn said she was overwhelmed that the committee did not hesitate in approving the proposals.

She said: "I cannot really say how much this means to us. It shows that they have respect and empathy for what we have to deal with as a family."