A PENSIONER has plummeted from 11 to five-and-a-half stone because her family say she is not getting the right support from social services.

Dementia sufferer May Holton, 89, and husband, Len, 98, need to go into a home, said her brother, Bill O’Brien, 77.

He said she was incontinent, did not eat, was unsteady on her feet and did not recognise her husband of 66 years. He said the former Second World War sapper and retired painter and decorater is himself nearly blind, had difficulty standing and often fell asleep.

Oxfordshire County Council provides three carer visits a day to the couple, who live in the town centre.

It says Mr Holton wants to stay at home. Yet he told The Bicester Advertiser the couple should be in a care home together.

It comes as the authority prepares to cut £6.2m from its social care budget by getting more people to live at home instead of in expensive care homes. This year’s total social care bill is £171m.

Mrs Holton was diagnosed last summer and she has rapidly gone downhill since then, said Mr O’Brien, 77, of Graham Road.

Mr O’Brien, who visits them twice a day, said: “I wonder how May has lasted so long, she doesn’t eat or drink.

“Len knows they need help and now he wants to go into care. At least they can make her final days comfortable.

“They have been left to manage on their own. If I didn’t go in there, there would be no one to look after them.

“I would rather see them go than live like that.”

The carers, who wash and dress Mrs Holton, cost the council £750 a month. The couple get £615 a month in benefits and their rents and rates are paid by Cherwell District Council.

The county council has offered them a stairlift and alarms which sound if Mrs Holton gets out of bed and does not return after a set time.

But Mr O’Brien says that cash could be used to fund two places at a nursing home, which cost about £750 to £900 each per week. He said: “The alarms are ridiculous, she could be halfway to Oxford before they went off.

“The authority said ‘We have got no money, we are waiting for the budget figure’.

“Now they have said they want two more assessments.”

He said it was frustrating dealing with different organisations, including the county’s social services, Bright Yellow Solutions, which provide the carers, and the district council.

Friend Dave Powell, of Bernwood Road, said: “It makes me cry. I have known them 60 years, I was brought up with them. To see them like this is awful.”

Mr Holton said: “We have got to be together somewhere where we are looked after 24 hours a day.”

But the county council said Mr Holton had told social workers he wanted his wife to stay at home. The council said it could increase the level of support.

Spokesman Marcus Mabberley said: “Mr Holton has not conveyed to the county council any desire to be admitted to a care home with his wife. We would, however, be happy to discuss this with him.” A further meeting will take place to discuss “what support was in Mrs Holton’s best interests”.

An offer to involve a dementia advisor and day centre visits has been rejected by the family.

Mr Mabberley said: “We have discussed with Bright Yellow Solutions — the care provider in this case — how important it is for them during each visit to encourage Mrs Holton to eat.”