HUNDREDS of businesses across the region face legal action for failing to provide access for disabled people.

In total, 417 complaints have been lodged about access to goods and services across Merseyside and Cheshire in the past six months.

So far the DRC has identified 226 as possible cases that contravene the Disability Discrimiation Act.

This could result in hundreds of legal challenges to businesses and public bodies across the region and could lead to fines of up to £500,000 for each case that reaches court.

However, disability rights campaigners said the number of official complaints represented just the "tip of the iceberg".

Elaine Evans, spokeswoman for the Liverpool Association of Disabled People, said she was not surprised at the figure.

Ms Evans added: "One of the problems is that there is no single body that monitors and oversees the situation. It us up to individuals to go to the DRC, which can be quite a lengthy process. It means lots of problems will simply go unreported."

Ms Evans said the DRC is only likely to pursue significant "test cases" that are likely to set a legal precedent.

It means it is up to individuals to pursue lengthy wrangles or costly legal action if they wish to pursue a lesser complaint.

Ms Evans acussed the law of having "no teeth" and called for a radical change in attitues by the business community.

She said: "There are so many loopholes that it means businesses can get around providing access.

"They only have to show they have considered the issue, and provided 'reasonable access'. What we need is for access to be deemed a basic right."

Ms Evans said she would support calls for automatic fines on businesses who do not comply with the law, but said: "In the meantime it's about a change in attitudes on behalf of the business community."

She added: "What is so disappointing is that although the final act only came in a few months ago, businesses and service providers have known about this for the last ten years.

"They have had plenty of time to get their act together, and the fact that they haven't means it is their own fault if they end up being challenged."

The DRC is currenlty investigating 55 complaints registered in the past six months about disability access to buildings in Liverpool city centre.

A further 136 have been lodged about buildings and services across the rest of the city,165 other complaints related to areas of western Cheshire bordering on Merseyside, 26 to Southport and 34 to West Lancashire.

A DRC spokeswoman said the number of complaints was at the "top end" of similar figures for other cities.

Nationally the DRC is investigating 13,816 complaints, 6,887 of which have been deemed possible cases. A total 6,033 complaints have been lodged by people in the North West since the DRC opened its doors in April 2000.

Last night Steve Pearse, Policy Specialist at the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, said it was up to individual businesses to meet the requirements of the act.

He said: "We've always taken a responsible approach to ensure all of our members are kept fully informed of any changes to legislation which affects them.

"However, it is up to individual businesses to put in place any necessary modifications to make their buildings accessible for people with disabilities".

But Bert Massie, the Liverpool-born chairman of the Disability Right Commission, said businesses were still not grasping just how much trade they are missing out on.

Recent government figures estimate total spending power by the UK's 10 million disabled adults is around £80bn a year.

There are approximately 182,660 disabled people of working age in Merseyside according to the DRC, and around 1.2 million in the North West.

Mr Massie, who uses a wheelchair to get around, said: "After the age of 50 every one should prepare for being disabled, eventually your hearing won't be as sharp, you legs won't work so well, you eyesight will start to fail.

"It is in businesses interests to think about how they can become accessible to disabled people."

He added that the city's architectural heritage has made compliance with the DDA difficult for many businesses, particularly along places like Bold Street.

"Merseyside is as vulnerable as anywhere else. It is a city with many old buildings, but with a lot of new ones that are going up that should be able to build in the access too.

"If you go down Bold Street practically every door has a huge step outside.

"Whereas if you go into the pedestrianised area around Church Street you can pretty much go in everywhere.

"There are some exceptions to the act, for example if it is either impractical to change the entrance or too expensive.

"It's not just about making buildings physically accessible, it is about making the services accessible.

"I might be in a wheelchair and unable to come upstairs but if someone can come downstairs and serve me a meal then that is legal.

"If I can't get into the barbers, they could agree to come to my house, that way they are making the serivce accessible to me.

"It's not just about making places accessible to wheelchairs, businesses need to think if they have enough car parking for disabled people.

"Are the staff able to communicate with someone who's deaf, is there a Braille menu?" Mr Massie praised the transformation of the city's Empire theatre, and Merseytravel, which he says is leading the way nationally for providing accessible transport.

But he added that there was still a long way to go, saying: "This is not just about wheelchair users, we have had complaints from people with learning difficulties who have been turned away from hotels because it would disrupt the other guests.

"We have had people with facial disfigurements who have been refused entry to places.

"That is illegal now, to discriminate against someone because of the way they look or because they have an impairment.

"It is tantamount to racial discrimination which would be seen as totally unacceptable."

He added: "What is increasingly going to happen is that disabled people are not going to accept being treated as second class citizens any more.

"They are not going to allow their rights to be ignored."

deborahjames@dailypost.co.uk

'Too difficult to get around' >>>

'Too difficult to get around'

WHEELCHAIR user Pam Thomas stopped going into Liverpool city centre except on unavoidable business several years ago.

The 51-year-old mother-of-two says: "It's just too difficult to get around, I know which areas are accessible and I tend stick to those."

And, after a trip around town with her, it doesn't take much effort to begin to appreciate just what she means.

While out testing firms in the city centre during a half hour period, we found lots of good examples of access, including most outlets on Church Street, in Clayton Square and St John's shopping centre.

However, in other areas, particularly Bold Street, about a third of the places we passed seemed at first glance impossible to enter.

Take the trendy Soul Cafe. Like many on the street, a step of around three inches high poses a challenge even Pam's air filled tyres were unable conquer.

Sure, Pam says, the staff, like many, will offer to physically lift your chair into the shop, or provide outdoor seating.

But, as she regularly asks managers across the city: "Who do I sue if you drop me?"

Other shops have invested in temporary ramps - which Soul Cafe owner Ruth Gibson explains she is about to purchase along with installing a bell. Ms Gibson said building a permanent ramp would be too costly for a small business like hers.

Depending on how you interpret the law, offering to wheel out a temporary ramp can constitute "reasonable access".

We end up choosing the fully accessible chain bar Edwards for our morning coffee,.

But it's not just the steps to other premises that we found difficult, navigating our way into places that do provide wheelchair access sometimes seemed to pose an almost Krypton Factor-style challenge.

Take the bars lining Concert Square in the recently regenerated Ropewalks area.

A strategically placed advertising A-board on Wood street meant backtracking 100 metres to find a drop curb.

Pam then braced herself for a boneshaker-style ride over cobbles, until we spotted the wheelchair access, back over on the opposite pavement.

Nearby even the new FACT cinema, which has won a national award for accessibility, is not quite up to Pam's standard either.

She said: "It does have a ramp, but they will only let up to five wheelchairs in at a time to see a film because of fire risks in getting us out again."

In response, the building's operations manager Alan Smith explained: "That is inaccurate. We have permanent space for five wheelchairs in screen 1, and four in screens 2 and 3.

"We can accommodate up to 20 or 30 wheelchairs in one room, but we need to know in advance because we have to employ extra staff for health and safety reasons."

Pam, an access trainer from West Derby, has just written a PhD on "inclusive design" in construction.

She says she in part blames the city council for a "complete lack of consistency" in town planning.

She adds: "I don't like the idea of shaming people into doing something, but it's very frustrating because there are places I'd like to go, that I can't.

"I have been to other cities all over the world, Vancouver, Barcelona, even Manchester and Birmingham, and they are much more welcoming."

Council leader pledges to appoint disability access officer >>>

Council leader pledges to appoint disability access officer

LIVERPOOL council leader Mike Storey has pledged to appoint an officer to oversee disability access in the city.

The announcement follows three years of campaigning by rights groups, after the access officer role was scrapped when the previous post holder left in 2002.

Cllr Storey said he will also appoint one councillor as "disability champion" for the city..

Both appointments will complement the new "Merseyside Tourism for All" project,, whch aims to improve access to businesses and tourism buildings.

Cllr Storey asaid: "We know that there are problems in making Liverpool accessible to everybody and we are not shying away from them.

"New developments are currently transforming our city.

"There is an opportunity that we must not miss to make sure that everyone can use the city, whether they are residents or the increasing number of visitors that we expect in the lead-up to 2008".

Peter Bates, chairman of Merseyside Disability Federation (MDF), welcomed the move.

A council spokesman added: "The city council takes the Disability Discrimination Act extremely seriously and over the past few years has spent a lot of time identifying the buildings which need work on them.

"So far, 58 (62%) of the 83 buildings we identified have been altered, including all of our One Stop Shops."