The parents of a wheelchair-bound boy who took Bradford Council to the High Court over a grant to build their son a ground-floor bedroom were celebrating victory today.

Lawrence and Julie Pickering of Romsey Gardens, Holme Wood, Bradford, whose ten-year-old son Ryan suffers from spina bifida, had been told they did not qualify for a £40,000 grant because they did not 'own' their home.

But at a hearing at London's High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Munby overturned the decision.

Mr and Mrs Pickering had applied for a council grant to build a one-story extension after they were granted planning permission in August 1998.

The extra space was to provide a bedroom and bathroom for Ryan who is paralysed from the waist down and needs to be carried up and down the stairs of his home.

But in March last year, the Pickerings were told they were not eligible for a grant under the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 because they did not have "an owner's interest" in their home.

The couple live in the semi-detached house under a rental purchase agreement, with half of their weekly instalments buying the house and half paying rent.

Representing the Pickerings, solicitor Pankaj Madan told the court that the rental purchase agreement was an "agreement for the sale of land" and that the council had too narrowly interpreted the statute.

After the hearing Mrs Pickering said it was wonderful news.

"I don't think the council believed we would take it this far," she said. "But if we hadn't have really needed to, we wouldn't have bothered. You can't have a lad crawling up to bed, getting cuts and bruises and having to be hauled into a bath."

She added that ownership of the house was due to pass into their hands at the end of the year.

Today, the Pickering's solicitor Jaroslaw Stachiw said it was a landmark case.

He said: "It was a very hard battle and I'm so happy for my clients, but also for Ryan and other people in the same position."

Mr Justice Munby is due to give the reasons for his decision in the High Court on Monday.

e-mail: suzy.poole@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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