A SCOT suffering from an agonising nervous system disorder last night accused the Department for Work and Pensions of “robbing him of his independence” after he was ordered to return his car, leased through a welfare disability scheme.

Chris Bridgeford is one of more than 30,000 people north of the Border who face losing their vehicles under DWP reforms being brought in by the UK Government.

Bridgeford, 57, joined the Motability lease scheme in 1983, a couple of years after he was diagnosed with a central nervous system condition that leaves him in constant pain and only able to walk short distances with the help of two sticks.

His condition – complex regional pain syndrome – makes moving around a struggle and the levels of pain suffered are described as being as severe as having a finger amputated. Touch, sound and light can all make it worse.

At the end of last month Bridgeford received a letter from the DWP telling him he no longer qualified for the scheme and would have to return the car he leases under it. “My whole world collapsed,” he told The National. “They have robbed me of my independence. I will be shut away from society and won’t be able to go out on my own.”

Bridgeford’s car leased under the scheme allowed him to make short journeys around his home town of Forres, including to his doctor’s surgery, and also to Elgin for monthly meetings of a self-help group he set up for fellow sufferers of chronic pain.

The letter telling him he no longer qualified followed a DWP assessment in Inverness last month – one of thousands being carried out as people on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) transfer to a new benefit called the

Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Bridgeford’s wife Rosie, 52, drove him to the assessment and spoke for him as he said he went into “panic mode” and began to suffer intense pain.

He said the nurse carrying out the assessment met them outside the centre and suggested they walk from the front door into the secretary's office. Bridgeford did so with the use of his two walking sticks.

He later found out the walk was a key part of the test and because he had completed it he was assessed as not requiring the enhanced benefit which entitled him to remain on the Motability scheme. Bridgeford described the subsequent part of the assessment when they reached the interview room. “It was quite horrendous, awful," he said. "I was in a state of fear and in a lot of pain following the car journey and the worry. Rosie did the talking for me. I went into panic mode and was in a lot of pain.

“The nurse kept firing questions at Rosie. They were talking very fast and the nurse would fill in the answers at her computer. She kept hammering on her keyboard and the noise made me feel worse.”

At one point the nurse wanted to conduct a physical examination but Bridgeford had a GP’s letter with him explaining that touch made his condition worse and the examination was not carried out.

At the end of last month Bridgeford received an eight-page letter from the DWP with its decision.

To qualify for the enhanced award allowing him to remain on the Motability scheme he would have had to have got 12 points. Bridgeford scored 10, meaning he was not eligible. The letter told him he would have to return the car by March 22.

“Because I could walk 20 metres with my walking sticks I was deemed able to walk and not eligible for the enhanced award which would allow me to continue on the scheme,” he said.

“But walking across a floor covered in a carpet is quite a different thing from walking the same distance along a pavement on the street.

“There appeared to be no account taken of walking with aids for more than 20 metres but less than 50 in a carpeted house compared to a wet and windy Scottish street in February.

"No account was also taken of my inability to stand for more than a couple of minutes.”

Bridgeford is currently considering whether to submit further evidence to the DWP or appeal the decision.

He added: “I am just glad that PIP benefits are coming under the Scottish Government in less than a couple of years. They should be less cruel.”

With PIP, everyone – new applicants and those already in receipt of DLA – has to attend a face-to-face assessment by Government-hired private companies, and only those scoring 12 points or more will qualify for support – currently £57.45 per week.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “Decisions on eligibility for Personal Independence Payment are made after consideration of all the evidence, including an assessment and information provided by the claimant and their GP.

“The majority of people leaving the Motability scheme will be eligible for a one-off payment of £2,000, which will help ensure their mobility needs continue to be met. Claimants who are unhappy with the decision can appeal.”