FURIOUS Sean Brown claims he has been left on his own to look after his wife, who is plagued by violent and abusive mood swings after suffering serious head injuries in a car accident.

The father-of-five has been battling with social services to get help since his wife Tracy, 27, was knocked down by a car.

She was left in a coma for four days in the head injuries unit at Hope Hospital, Salford, following the accident 16 months ago.

However, his efforts to get round-the-clock professional help have failed and he does not know how he is going to cope with his wife and children.

Sean, 29, of Acacia Walk, Blackburn, said: "Tracy is not allowed out on her own and cannot be left in the house on her own. When she does go to the shops she gets very abusive. She also suffers from memory loss and has left knives out when the children are about. "We need 24 hour a day supervision for my wife, as well as respite care to give us a break."

He has been told he is not eligible for help, following numerous visits from social workers.

Before the accident, Mr Brown was also looking after his severely handicapped autistic brother Trent, 27, after his parents were unable to cope.

However, due to the overwhelming pressure of coping with his wife and five children aged between two and nine, his brother had to go into residential care.

Sean and his young family are living in the home of his parents, Dorothy and Ronald Brown, who both suffer from poor health.

Mr Brown, who is unable to work because of his epileptic condition, said he was at the end of his tether with the situation and claims social services will now not even discuss the situation with him.

He added: "I cannot get any help, but if I walked out and turned my back on my family, the social services would soon step in."

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council's Social Services Department said the family had been provided with respite care through an agreement with the Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley NHS Trust.

He added: "We will be meeting the family to see if we can offer any future assistance."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.