A DISABLED man plans to launch a petition against a rail company which refuses to let disabled people use motorised scooters on its trains.

Peter Foulkes has been locked in battle with First North Western since 2002 when he was first refused access to one of its trains.

The 67-year-old, of Brunel Drive, Blackburn, suffers osteoarthritis in his legs, vertigo, asthma and bronchitis, and relies on a scooter.

He had hoped the new Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which came into force earlier this month, would insist First North Western allow him on to its trains.

The Act demands all service providers make "reasonable adjustments" to their premises in order to make services more accessible to disabled people.

But after Mr Foulkes attempted to get aboard on Saturday, the guard claimed the scooter was too big and could tip up during the journey.

Mr Foulkes says he was disheartened to discover modes of transport are exempt from the new law, and will not have to make improvements for disabled passengers until at least 2006.

Now he is appealing to others who have encountered the same problem to sign his petition in a bid to force First North Western into changing its "unfair" policy, and he has been in contact with Blackburn MP Jack Straw, who has promised to write to the train company.

Mr Foulkes said: "It's very frustrating for me because some rail companies let people with scooters on, but First North Western are being awkward about it."

A spokesman for First North Western said: "Although all our trains can carry wheelchairs safely, scooters fail to comply with the dimensions laid down in the our code of practice.

"This means that many electric scooters will simply not fit safely on our trains because of their size, manageability and weight.

"We have to consider the health and safety of all passengers who travel on our trains and for the foreseeable future this means scooters will not be permitted."