Taxi driver Mohammed Iqbal is in dispute with the Council over his new £17,000 extension - paid for by the taxpayer - which he calls a "waste of money".

The father-of-four applied for a Bradford Council grant to provide extra facilities for his disabled aunt who lives with him and his family at Ellercroft Terrace, Lidget Green, Bradford.

He says he requested a grant for an extension to provide a ground floor bedroom for her, as well as an adapted shower and toilet.

Believing everything was in hand he went away to Pakistan for eight months of last year on family business. As a result he missed correspondence from the council about the building work.

It was only when work began at his home earlier this year that he realised the £17,000 extension would only provide a bathroom, he says.

He protested at a Council appeal - backed by Councillor Sajawal Hussain and Bradford West MP Labour Marsha Singh - but lost the case.

Now the building work is finished but Mr Iqbal says it has not helped the family.

His aunt still needs to be carried up and downstairs to use the new bathroom.

Coun Hussain (Lab, University) said: "I think there's a case for the Local Authority Ombudsman. I think there may have been maladministration by the officers.

"Money has been invested here to help a disabled person but it doesn't serve the purpose at all."

Bradford Council has admitted a clerical blunder led to them writing to Mr Iqbal on one occasion and mentioning a bedroom.

But they say this was immediately retracted and the agreement was only ever for a bathroom.

A spokesman for Bradford Council's Home Improvement Service said: "We looked at all options and the most reasonable and practicable scheme was to provide a shower/toilet extension with Mr Iqbal's aunt sleeping in one of the ground floor rooms.

"This was discussed with the family who agreed they could cope with the arrangement."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.