A man fears he could be trapped after the automatic door in his block of flats was removed, making it almost impossible for him to leave his home.

Alan Carr, 74, from Boreham Holt, Borehamwood, has multiple sclerosis and requires the aid ofneeds a wheelchair.

Hertsmere Borough Council installed an automatic door and fob system at the flats so Mr Carr was able to get in and out by himself.

But about five weeks ago a new tenant was moving into the block and was using a large trunk to hold open the automatic door.

The motor on the door was damaged and Allum Lane Property Management Company, which is in charge of the maintenance at the building, removed the motor.

Now the couple say it is refusing to pay to reinstall it.

After contacting Allum Lane Property Management the company, it was estimated that reinstalling the automatic door would cost around £1,400 but the couple would have to find the money themselves.

Mr Carr said: “All I want is help. Until you are in a wheelchair yourself or know someone who is, you do not know what it is like.

“It is a communal door so there are lots of people going in and out on a daily basis. We hardly use the door at all.

“It should not be down to us to raise the money.”

Mr Carr’s wife, Rosalind, also 74, said: “We pay our maintenance bills on a quarterly basis and the company is in charge of 27 other flats but they are making us find the money ourselves.

“Between all the flats it would cost around £55 each but it would come out of the maintenance bills.

“We live in a privately-owned flat and if it was our front door I would understand, but this is a communal door for everyone. Why should it be up to us to pay?”

Last year there was a fire in the couple’s flat, but luckily the two were not in at the time.

Now it would be impossible for him to get out in an emergency.

The couple fear they could be trapped if there is another blaze and the system on the door was not in place.

There is another disabled lady on the top floor who also needs the automatic door.

Other residents in the block have not been informed of the seriousness of the situation, only the three directors were told and refused to have the repairs done.

Mrs Carr said: “They are discriminating against the disabled. They are refusing to do it and they have said people in the flats above have objected to it but none of them have been informed.”

In 2009 Mrs Carr fought to change an eight-inch step into a ramp to allow Mr Carr to access the building.

Mrs Carr said: “It was a three-year fight just to get the ramp done and it was finally completed in 2012.

“We did request having a French door fitted so Alan could come straight into the flat but that idea was refused on the grounds that the flat would look different to all the others.”

Allum Lane Property Management Company refused to give a statement on this matter.