UNCERTAINTY about the ownership of a stretch of road has left a disabled woman a virtual prisoner in her own home.

Joanne Southren, who suffers from osteoarthritis in her spine, needs a wheelchair and disability scooter to get around.

But the road outside the bungalow she shares with her husband Lee, between Strother Close and Parker’s Terrace in Haydon Bridge, is so badly potholed, the wheelchair and scooter struggle to cope.

Lee said: “The road is really badly looked after. From our bungalow, it’s really bad and it’s getting worse and worse.

“Joanne has a wheelchair and a mobility scooter, and we’ve had to take the mobility scooter for new tyres eight times – they cost £10 each.

“I would love to get something done about it, because the winter is coming and you can guarantee it’s going to get even worse.”

The couple’s plight was featured in the Courant last year – but nothing has been done since then due to arguments about who owns the road.

And two medical emergencies for Lee and Joanne have brought the need for repairs to the road to the fore once more.

Lee added: “Joanne has had both her hips replaced and she had a fall the other day when she slipped in the shower. The ambulance refused to come down the road.

“In January this year, I had a heart attack and the paramedics had to come down the road, but they were very reluctant to do it because it’s so bad.”

Both Northumberland County Council and Haydon Parish Council have said that because they don’t own the road, they cannot repair it.

A spokesman for Northumberland County Council said: “While we sympathise with this resident, unfortunately this is not county council land or an adopted highway.

“The home owner would need to consult their deeds or contact the Land Registry to establish the ownership.”

Haydon Parish Council vice chairman Eileen Charlton added: “The road doesn’t belong to anyone – all the back lanes in Haydon Bridge used to belong to Greenwich Hospital.

“As people and the council bought land to build houses, they didn’t buy the roads, so nobody owns it, but everybody has a right of way.