A DISABLED York woman faces being housebound for ten days after vandals damaged her mobility scooter.

Ethne Stephenson, 65, of Dringhouses, is crippled with osteo-arthritis and has been in a wheelchair for the last two years.

Determined to keep her independence she forked out for a mobility scooter last year.

But before long, because the only place she can keep it is at the bottom of the stairs in her block of flats, it began to be a target for vandals.

First the steering mechanism was tampered with.

Then hooligans took to spitting all over it.

Now the steering and front wheel have been damaged for a second time.

Ethne noticed the latest damage earlier this week when she went to charge up the battery on the scooter, which she uses almost every day.

"We live in a block of flats and so I have to leave it at the bottom of the stairs," said Ethne.

"When I went to charge it up on Wednesday I realised there was something wrong with the steering and when I looked at the wheel I saw that had been damaged too."

The scooter cost £1,400 and she and her husband William, who has heart trouble and also suffers with arthritis, are still paying it off in monthly instalments.

Now Ethne faces being housebound for ten days while the scooter is taken back to the factory for repairs - and fears she may also be landed with a sizeable bill for the work.

"This is the second time it has been vandalised," she said.

"And I have come down two or three times and found that someone has spat all over the scooter - I don't understand what people get out of doing something like this.

"My grandson Ashlee, who is 16, has been really good and taken me shopping but I'm no lightweight and he has to push the shopping as well."

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