AN 81-year-old disabled woman said she fears for her safety as her Huntingdon garden has become so overgrown and she cannot get help to tackle the mess.

AN 81-year-old disabled woman said she fears for her safety as her Huntingdon garden has become so overgrown and she cannot get help to tackle the mess.

Joan Reeves, who has one arm, told The Hunts Post that she also struggles to put her washing out as the weeds in her garden are now 4ft tall.

But despite her disability she said she cannot get any help from social landlord Luminus. She is 79th on the firm’s waiting list for the garden maintenance scheme...which she signed up for two years ago.

Miss Reeves, of Coldhams South, said she has reached the end of her tether.

She added she used to pay for a gardener but he failed to turn up regularly. Instead she joined the waiting list for Luminus’s garden maintenance scheme.

“I have lived here for 22 years and my brother came to do the gardening for the first two years and then I was paying people who came regularly,” she said. “Then, for no reason at all, they stopped coming. It has become overgrown and I can’t do it myself. I am very independent, I have had to be, and I can do a lot for myself but gardening is something I can’t do.”

The former cleaner at RAF Brampton added: “I can’t put my washing out as what would happen if I tripped and fell over and hurt myself? I’d be useless if anything happened to my left arm. The warden will come around occasionally but I could be lying there in pain for ages.”

When Miss Reeves was told she was 79th on the waiting list after two years, she said: “I’ll be dead before I can have my garden cleared.”

A spokesman from Luminus confirmed Miss Reeves signed up in August 2011. He added: “Tenants’ gardens are their responsibility. However, Luminus provides a free basic gardening service for more than 180 tenants who are elderly or have a disability, are in receipt of Housing Benefit and have nobody else who can look after the garden for them.

“Of course, there is a limit to the number of people we can help under this scheme and there is currently a waiting list. There are a variety of ways in which elderly and disabled tenants can (and do) maintain their gardens which include the assistance of family members, friends and carers and voluntary groups or they pay for a gardening service.

“We want to encourage residents to get involved in helping improve the environment and the lives of their neighbours by helping with gardening schemes in their areas.”

INFORMATION: Can you help? Contact The Hunts Post on 01480 411481. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer contact Kim Bryant, neighbourhood operations team leader on 01480 428518.