Disabled Deighton grandmother tells of her anger after arsonists light fire outside her home

Nov 14 2009 by Barry Gibson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A DISABLED grandmother has spoken of her anger after arsonists set fire to the old mobility scooter she had left outside her bungalow.

Elizabeth Williams, 53, was just feet away from her living room window when it was blown in by the blaze, on Cherry Nook Road in Deighton.

“Whoever set the scooter on fire doesn’t realise how much damage they’ve done or how they could have killed someone. I’m upset and mad about this,” she said yesterday.

Elizabeth, who lives alone, noticed something was wrong at 9pm on Thursday.

She said: “I was sat in the kitchen when I heard what I thought was a knock on the window. When I opened the door I saw the flames and then the living room window blew in. I was only a few feet away.”

Elizabeth, who has arthritis in her hips and spine as well as thrombosis, managed to make it out of the house. A passerby walking his dog told her he had called the fire service.

It was a lucky escape. Elizabeth said: “Kirklees Council only put a path in last month. If it hadn’t been there I would have had to jump off the wall on to the street.”

Elizabeth saw that someone had set alight the old mobility scooter and wardrobe which she had left outside her home.

She said: “The scooter had been there a month and I put the wardrobe out the day before Bonfire Night hoping someone might take it.”

Elizabeth called Kirklees on November 6 asking them to remove the scooter and wardrobe. She said: “They told me it could take up to three weeks to remove them which is a long time, because things like this happen.”

As well as blowing in the living room window, the fire also badly damaged the window sill and the front door. The living room was damaged by smoke in the blaze.