SIR - If you’re a Coronation Street fan, last night (Wednesday July 24), you might have seen our characters Paul and Billy struggling to come to terms with the heartbreaking news that it’s no longer safe for Paul to live in their flat.

Paul’s life has changed beyond recognition following his diagnosis of motor neurone disease (MND), a terminal illness that is robbing him of his ability to move and speak. Viewers watched Paul being told by his Occupational Therapist that he is now too weak to use the stairlift to his flat and must look for alternative, more accessible accommodation with adaptations to support him. Paul’s MND means he has lost so much already, and now he faces losing the home he loves, or his independence.

What you see us, as actors, portraying on screen is fictional. But there are thousands of people with MND living this reality.

People like Anna, a 39-year-old mum who has MND. She fell at home while on a waiting list for a stairlift. Anna was then restricted to the ground floor of her house - she couldn’t even get to her shower. That’s no way to live for someone who wants to retain their independence. The wait for a stairlift took so long Anna and her husband ended up paying for it. This was a struggle, because Anna’s husband had given up work to help look after her. And this is the first of many additional adaptation costs they will face.

From working alongside the MND Association and speaking to people affected by the disease, we’ve heard heartbreaking stories of the complicated, long and costly difficulties so many people face accessing a safe and suitable home. On screen, Peter’s character Paul faces being trapped in an inaccessible home. We can’t begin to imagine how isolating and lonely that reality would be.

That’s why we’re backing the MND Association’s Act to Adapt campaign which is urging local authorities to break down the barriers to accessible housing and housing adaptations faced by people with MND. Our storyline on Coronation Street is highlighting these issues so graphically - we don’t want to see our fiction become even more people’s reality.

Councils must use their discretionary powers to ensure everyone with MND can live safely and with dignity in a home they love. Councils must learn from existing good practice and make improvements to the support they provide.

Ultimately, the UK Government must scrap means testing for housing adaptations and ensure everyone has access to housing that meets their needs.

To find out more about the MND Association’s Act to Adapt campaign, or to join the campaign for better housing support for peopl affected by MND, visit mndassociation.org

Daniel Brocklebank, Coronation Street actor and ambassador for the MND Association following the death of his grandfather of the disease, and Peter Ash, Coronation Street actor