A DISABLED man who suffers from a condition which leaves him in almost constant pain said he had been forced to move to an ‘unsuitable’ flat because of the bedroom tax.

Wayne Blackburn said he was ‘annoyed and angry’ after a legal challenge to block the Government’s introduction of the controversial tax was thrown at the High Court on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old, who lives with his wife Laura, 31, said they were forced to downgrade from a specially modified two-bedroom house to a one-bedroom flat because they could no longer afford to keep the spare bedroom following the introduction of the new tax.

This weekend, he will meet Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson to discuss the issue, and he has written an open letter to the MP over the ‘ridiculous and unfair tax’.

Mr Blackburn, who lives in Nelson said: “In December 2011 we moved into an ideal property that had easy access.

“We used the spare room to store my wheelchair and other mobility aids, and it also had a spare settee-bed that my wife could sleep in when I was having a bad night.

“We’ve now had to move because of the bedroom tax. The flat we are now in is totally inadequate and the access is difficult and really quite painful for me.”

Mr Blackburn was born with a condition called spastic diplegia and now also suffers from complex regional pain syndrome.

He said: “My wife has been really struggling with us having to move and has been suffering from depression.

“It is stressful enough when you decide to move, never mind feeling you are forced to move into a property that you don’t want to live in.

“We had to move because we were already living on a tight budget. It was costing us £11 a week as well as an increase in council tax and we were having to cut down on essential things.

“The human cost of this bedroom tax is incalculable.”