A FURIOUS mum says the council has seized her disabled tot’s buggy over fire safety fears.

Rachel Haggart had parked the buggy at the bottom of a flight of stairs in Thorndean Road, Brighton.

Despite being out of the way, Brighton and Hove City Council removed the buggy under strict rules.

Ms Haggart, 37, says she has to take her 19-month-old son Harry to hospital appointments for Nystagmus.

He requires constant care from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and Seaside View in Elm Grove.

Mum-of-three Ms Haggart is a council tenant in a first floor flat, and said she had parked the buggy out of the communal area. She said: “They took the buggy away on Thursday afternoon, and are demanding that I pay to get it back, they are holding it hostage.

“It is not obstructing anyone and only blocks a small cubby hole. They say it is about fire safety, but it is not in the way. I need to use that buggy to take Harry to the hospital for appointments. He has so much going on, he cannot gauge spaces and has to turn his head in order to see.”

Ms Haggart, who has lived in the two-bedroom flat for six years, said she has never had a problem with parking buggies in the past.

She claims she got no warning from the council that the buggy would be removed, and only found a note once it had been seized. Now she has been told she will have to pay £20 for the buggy to be returned from storage.

Ms Haggart said: “I think it is disgusting. I am a council tenant, so clearly I’m not loaded. It makes me sick. Just because we live in a council property does not mean they can treat us so badly and have property taken away.

“They want to charge me for it, but they have council tenants over a barrel with no way out. The council should have a duty of care to look after people.”

The council said items were removed from communal areas as it is an important fire safety requirement.

Notes are put up in all residential blocks to inform residents.

The authority said: “When we remove items, we post notes to all residents on that floor and leave a notice where the items were.

We have now been in contact with the owners and understand they live on a different floor of the property.

“We are trying to make arrangements for the return of the items.”