British advocates complain about Cornwall community's inaccessibility

From BBC News:

Campaigners say Cornwall Council is failing to provide access for disabled people to its One Stop Shops (pictured), which offer advice on local services.

Disability Cornwall, which surveyed 100 people, found that 40% of those who drive said parking facilities were poor with narrow spaces and awkward kerbs.

The St Ives shop has automatic doors, but there is no ramp for wheelchair users to get to the doors.

Cornwall Council said it hoped to make improvements in the New Year.

The St Ives One Stop Shop, one of 20 such shops in Cornwall, also has no disabled parking, but there is a space reserved for the mayor.

The council said the mayor had to attend functions at short notice and had to carry her chain of office.

Steve Bird, of Disability Cornwall, told BBC News: "If the mayor got a bicycle she could have two panniers, one for her briefcase and another for her chain."

A council report from December 2008 said the decision to fit automatic doors to an entrance that was not accessible for wheelchair users was "rather strange".

The report said it should be possible to provide a ramp.

Since 2004 the Disability Discrimination Act has required service providers to make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers.

No elected representatives from Cornwall Council were available for interview but a council official said work had been held up by the planning process.