A disabled pensioner says he has been trapped in his home for almost three months because he is still waiting for an electric wheelchair.

Dennis Wagner, 83, who has had both legs amputated, has been unable to leave his flat in Hove because he cannot manoeuvre himself over steps and has no one to help him.

Mr Wagner said he was promised an electric wheelchair when he left hospital in March.

He said: "I have a heavy wheelchair and I can't move myself. My wife can't do it either, she is very unwell and doesn't have the strength. I'm a prisoner in my own home."

Mr Wagner said the only way he could leave the flat was to order a taxi and make special arrangements for the driver to help him.

His wife Frances, who has heart problems and severe asthma, has to care for her husband and do their shopping.

Mrs Wagner said: "I'm so distressed. I'm 78 and they expect us to cope when they don't even give us the right equipment."

Mr Wagner's legs were amputated because of diabetes in separate operations in 1970 and 1980 but he learned to walk again with the use of prosthetic limbs.

He led a relatively active life before an accident last June when he fell over some dustbins and damaged his spinal cord. He spent nine months in hospital and when discharged was told he would need to use a wheelchair until he could build up enough strength to start using his legs again.

He was given a basic wheelchair by South Downs Health NHS Trust, and was told he would get an electric replacement when one was available.

Retired engineer Mr Wagner, who designed fighter planes during the Second World War, said his situation was made worse by his current wheelchair.

Unable to push the chair with his arms, Mr Wagner has to shuffle it along but that caused his prosthetic limb to rub on his left leg causing a large blister.

A spokeswoman for South Downs said Mr Wagner was due to be assessed for an electric wheelchair on July 15.