The death of disabled former soldier Colin McLeod was made all the more tragic by the circumstances surrounding it.

Mr McLeod had contacted this newspaper because he was disturbed and anxious at the length of time it was taking the Council to find him somewhere else to live after a suspected stolen car ploughed into the wall of his ground-floor flat. Seeing car headlights suddenly appear through your living-room wall must in itself have been a terrifying experience but insult was added to injury by the Council's tardy response.

It is fair to say that a survey was carried out by an inspector on the day after the incident and some temporary repairs were undertaken after the property was declared to be structurally safe. But Mr McLeod was understandably shaken by the incident and had felt cold and uncomfortable ever since.

It is simply not good enough for the Council to say that they were unable to contact Mr McLeod for days. He has difficulty hearing the telephone. Surely the Council could have sent someone round in person to see him earlier?

The manager of Disability, Information and Advice Line (DIAL) in Bradford, Peter Clarke, is right to say that Mr McLeod should have been rehoused as a matter of urgency. At least he should have been placed somewhere warm and safe until a permanent home could have been found for him.

Whether or not the coroner's investigation suggests that the trauma of the last few weeks contributed to Mr McLeod's death, there is a salutory lesson to be learned.

Disabled people in society face enough hurdles and pitfalls as it is without this sort of insensitivity making matters worse.