Limbless soldier battling to walk again has disability benefit taken away

Private Aron Shelton, 26, from Bridlington, had his left leg amputated in December 2008 after he was injured in an explosion in Helmand province a year earlier.

He told the Daily Mirror his reward for learning to walk again was to lose his 180-a-month Disability Living Allowance which paid for a specially-adapted car.

He said: "I managed to walk 400 metres off my own back. It took sheer guts and determination.

"Because I can walk that distance and was honest enough to tell them, the benefit is being taken away from me and with it my means of getting around."

Pte Shelton said the benefit would end in September and he would have to hand back the car.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: "Issues such as this one are why we are making changes to the way we assess eligibility to DLA. We want to introduce a new, more objective assessment to ensure the system is fairer and targets those most in need.

"We can't talk about individual cases, but if a someone feels that a decision is wrong they can get in touch with us and we will look at again. Disability Living Allowance isn't paid based on the condition someone has, but on the extra costs they may have because of their specific needs or difficulties."