A PENSIONER disabled by a stroke spent his life savings on a mobility scooter - only to have it smashed up by youths outside his home.

Now the former engineer has declared he can no longer face using the machine and is heartbroken that mindless yobs have robbed him of his independence.

Jack Green, 72, of Richmond Street, Layerthorpe, York, bought the electric mobility scooter after a stroke which left him paralysed down his right side.

He now has only restricted use of his right arm and leg, and can walk only a few metres.

He saved up and bought the scooter second-hand, and was delighted when he could once again go to the shops for himself and his wife, go to meet friends at the bowling green, or just go round the block.

But in the early hours of Sunday morning, his wife, Kathleen, also 72, was woken by a disturbance outside.

When the couple got up the next morning they found the scooter flung on their lawn, its ignition ripped out, its battery damaged, and the seat vandalised.

Mr Green had been unable to insure the vehicle as it was kept outside their bungalow, and he now faces a major repair bill just to bring the scooter back into working order.

"But I just don't want it any more, so why should I pay out to have it repaired, when I just feel these yobs are going to come round and destroy it again?" said Mr Green.

"He is heartbroken, it was his lifeline," said Mrs Green, who is virtually bed-bound and on oxygen for 15 hours a day.

"He is a proud man, but there were tears in his eyes when he found it wrecked.

"He loved it, just getting on and getting away from it all, so we didn't have to rely on our family again, but now that's gone," she said.

Mr Green said: "When we saved up and I bought that I thought 'I'm all right now, I can go out again, I've got my independence back,' but now, all of a sudden, it's been stolen away again, and there's just that heap of metal left to show for it."

Updated: 10:28 Tuesday, July 06, 2004