A MULTIPLE sclerosis sufferer has been living in hospitals for months because council officials can't find him anywhere suitable to live.

Robert Parr has been at Harwich’s Fryatt Hospital for a month.

He said council chiefs offered him a room in a Travelodge because there are no suitable homes.

Former freelance journalist Mr Parr, 45, had been living with his ex-wife and ten-year-old son in Wivenhoe until his health deteriorated in January.

He said: “I was strong, physically active - 10,000 steps a day - and fit.

“I was diagnosed with MS in October 2013 but the effects were minimal.

“Then in January I became incontinent and kept falling over.

“Mentally I became confused and found it difficult to remember conversations and maintain my part in them.

“I became quite upset and depressed. I went from being myself to being a shell of a person.”

Robert was admitted to Colchester General Hospital for a week but was discharged.

He struggled to cope with the house, which had stairs and various steps in and around the property.

He was sent to Harwich Hospital then spent a month at the Kay Grant unit in Clacton.

He said: “My ex-wife made efforts to get me into the University College Hospital in London as that would be the best place for me and I went there at the end of March and stayed until mid July.”

The London hospital’s specialist MS staff helped Mr Parr to manage his symptoms and begin rehabilitation.

Bur since his allocated time there ended, he has been at the Fryatt Hospital in Harwich and says no-one has been able

to help find him somewhere to live.

He said: “Colchester Borough Homes has offered me Travelodge.

“I think it’s lack of properties that is the problem but I’ve contacted them a lot. I’ve been given no guidance, I’ve just been left to it.

“It’s horrible being left to your own devices to try to work out what to do.

“It’s really frustrating, I’ve been really low here. I’ve gone from being a freelance journalist, being part of the world’s rich fabric.

“They are lovely in Harwich hospital and they have been very supportive, but I would like not to bed block.”

Mr Parr said he was advised to look at private housing and the council would underwrite his deposit, but he says he has no details on what benefits he would be entitled to and how much he could afford.

He said he has looked at a house recently but it was unsuitable as he needs a ground floor property with grab rails and space for his wheelchair.

He said: “I’m going to try and walk again with a frame but at the moment I can only do 16 meters."

'It could be a two-year wait'

WAITING for a suitable council home could take up to two years, a spokesman has said.

Colchester Borough Homes said it has liaised with Robert Parr about finding accommodation as well as where he needs to go to find out about benefits.

A spokesman said: “Mr Parr approached our housing solutions team in July.

“We have advised Mr Parr on the likelihood of finding suitable accommodation in the foreseeable future and explained that we would be looking to provide suitable B&B if he was discharged, before more permanent accommodation became available.

“It is difficult to determine the length of time an applicant will have to wait for specific property types to become available, as applicants are able to decide this by bidding on properties - with the exception of homeless applicants where auto-bidding may apply.

“In general, most applicants wait in excess of 18 to 24 months. However, this may take longer, should specific adaptations be required, before their bid is successful.

“This includes those accepted as homeless and those who apply directly to the register.”

The spokesman said Mr Parr was given an independent website address where he could find out about what benefits he would be entitled to and was told he would be given “financial assistance to help secure a suitable private property”.