A HOUSEBOUND former soldier, trapped indoors for three years, said today: "I've got my freedom back."

Jeff Atherton had to give up work for the Salvation Army, Blackburn,12 years' ago when he was diagnosed with lumber spine problems and his bones started to crumble.

This left him housebound and requiring steroid injections in his spine every 12 weeks to restrict the pain -- which in turn caused his weight to soar.

Now, thanks to the Royal British Legion and the Salvation Army in Burnley, Jeff has taken delivery of a £6,000 custom-built wheelchair and at last he can get out of his house on his own.

Jeff, from Chatburn Avenue, Burnley, said: "I was always a big lad and weighed 19 stones when I was diagnosed.

"I had my jaw wired and went down to 14 stones but the injections just kept on putting weight on and I went up to 35 stones.

"The last 12 months I have virtually lived on cottage cheese, Weight Watchers diet bread and fruit."

He has managed to get his weight down to 28 stones 7lbs and when he celebrated his 60th birthday, Jeff got the best present of his life -- a five-speed electric wheelchair with a top speed of eight miles an hour!

Jeff, who used to work at the Salvation Army home off Clayton Street, Blackburn, caring for alcoholics, said: "This chair has given me a new life. I have got my independence back."

When the chair arrived, tears of joy rolled down Jeff's face as he sat in it for the first time.

And when his wife of 27 years, Ruth, said she was walking the dog that night, Jeff came along with her -- in his chair.

Ruth, 58, said: "Even just over the last two to three days we can see how much of a difference it has made. Everything it so much easier.

"Jeff has not been able to go to church for nearly three years and on Sunday we will be going to the service at the Salvation Army Citadel together.

"I have kept going and recorded some of the services and played them to him. And when they held fundraisers at the Salvation Army, our son captured them on video so Jeff could watch."

Fundraising events and contributions from friends raised £1,000 and then the couple turned to the Royal British Legion for help.

Jeff served in the Royal Artillery Corps and the Army Catering Corps for three years.

He said because of his size the NHS would only offer him a chair needing an attendant, not an electric chair, and it would have been too large to get in their car.

Burnley Poppy Appeal Organiser Eric Midgley said: "I was alerted to his plight about four months ago and made a report to headquarters.

"I told them he was housebound and could not get out at all and I impressed on them how much he needed a wheelchair."

The Royal Artillery, Army Catering, Army Benevolent Fund, and the Royal British Legion Benevolent Fund were among the organisations which donated money in addition to £1,000 already raised.

Eric said: "Jeff's smiling face says it all. It's my reward."

Jeff and Ruth have two children and are awaiting the arrival of their first grandchild, due in December.