A GRANDFATHER who fought his way back from a series of devastating strokes has languished in his hospital bed for the past three months, despite being told he is fit to be discharged.

Now doctors have told George Martin, 53, that his health could be in danger the longer he stays in hospital, because he risked picking up an infection.

But he will have to stay put, blocking a bed in the hospital's stroke unit, because Bexley Council says it cannot find him a suitable home.

The father-of-three suffered a series of catastrophic strokes in January and was rushed to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup.

His sister Kathy Ide said: "He almost died."

Since then, Mr Martin has battled to get better.

Although he will be confined to a wheelchair, Mr Martin, a former employee of the newspaper and magazine distribution chain John Menzies, can now sit up and speak, and can walked unaided.

His progress was so impressive that doctors told him three months ago he was fit enough to leave hospital.

However, the delight has turned to despair as Mr Martin remains in hospital week after week, waiting to get a suitable place to live.

He currently shares a second-floor council flat in Dylan Road, Belvedere, with his wife Chandie. Yet the doors are not wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair and the building has no lift.

Knowing it would be a problem, Mrs Ide said she and her sister-in-law approached Bexley Council in February.

She said: "We knew re-housing would not happen overnight.

"But there is no medical reason why he should still be in hospital."

She said her brother's quality of life was now very poor, with only a television and a daily outing in a wheelchair in the hospital grounds to keep him occupied.

She said: "Unlike the other patients in the unit, he is not an elderly man. He is only 53. He needs to get back to living a relatively normal life; going out to the shops, or seeing his grandchildren."

Mrs Ide added: "There are new homes being built all over Bexley, but nothing, it seems, is suitable for my brother."

The couple have been told they will need a two-bedroom ground-floor flat suitable for a wheelchair user.

Mrs Martin does not drive and hopes to move within visiting distance of Mr Martin's family in Sidcup, Swanley and Bromley.

Mrs Ide said: "We were told they could have a place if they was prepared to move to Thamesmead, but it was too far and they felt they would be too vulnerable."

Bexley Council says Mr Martin, who has five grandchildren, has top priority for rehousing. But he needs a particular type of property, which is in very short supply, to meet his health needs.

A spokesman said the areas of the borough where he wants to live are not those where most vacancies arise.

She added: "However, we appreciate the urgency of his case and will try to help him as soon as we can."