A RARE visit to York by a disabled Malton woman turned into a nightmare when she became trapped in a busy road because of a lack of dropped kerbs.

Deli Boyes, 35, from Westfold, Old Malton, is confined to a wheelchair due to a muscle-wasting disease.

One of her rare treats is a taxi journey to York to visit the cinema and go shopping with her regular carer, Jane Reid.

But as Miss Boyes and Ms Reid enjoyed their latest outing at the Clifton Moor shopping centre, they were unable to manoeuvre the wheelchair on to the pavement and they both became trapped in the busy main road.

The nightmare only ended when a motorist stopped his car and helped them both to the safety of the pavement.

Miss Boyes said she decided to visit Tesco after she had come out of the cinema last month, but that simple journey from one side of the shopping centre to the other, over the main road, had left her feeling helpless and vulnerable.

Now she has called for a more wheelchair-friendly layout at the centre.

Miss Boyes said: "We walked out of the pictures, and because of the taxi costing £22 we didn't like to go straight back, so we decided to go to Tesco.

"We went out of the car park, out across the road, but because the chair is heavy we couldn't lift it up the kerb, and there's no drop kerb around the busy road.

"We were going to walk in the road, but a man in a car stopped and helped us up on to the kerb. With the traffic coming towards us and everything, we were angry because we couldn't get up. These are my one-off trips to the pictures and they obviously haven't thought about it in the design. It would be better if there were drop kerbs opposite the car park exit."

A spokesman for City of York Council said it was keen to improve access across the city and urged Miss Boyes to get in touch with its Disabled Person's Advisory Group and her ward councillor.

He said: "We have never had a complaint about this situation before. The Clifton Moor development was conceived before City of York Council took on responsibility for this area from Ryedale Council. At that time we understand that it was felt most people would use cars to visit the businesses and leisure attractions in the area."

Updated: 12:17 Friday, December 07, 2001