Charity ride father loses benefit

A father said he has lost a disability benefit after doing a 200-mile sponsored bike ride for the cancer charity which helped his twin sons. Danny Johnson-Green, 25, from Leicester, said his monthly payments of more than £300 were stopped and he was ordered him to repay more than £2,500.

Mr Johnson-Green, who has a condition affecting muscles on one side of his body, plans to appeal at a tribunal. The Work and Pensions Department said it judged each case on its merits.

Mr Johnson-Green raised almost £1,300 for Clic Sargent from the ride from Leicester to London and back last March.

His sons Terry and Jamie, aged two, were diagnosed with leukaemia within 24 hours of each other in November 2006 and are now in remission. "Every mile was a struggle. But I cycled the ride purely on adrenalin, basically I was doing it for my boys and that was what mattered. I wasn't worried about the consequences," said Mr Johnson-Green, who lives in New Parks. He believes somebody reported him via the benefits fraud hot line.

"(The Department of Work and Pensions) are saying that if I could cycle 200 miles then I'm a normal, able-bodied person, which is clear from the evidence that I'm not," he said. Mr Johnson-Green was born with hemiplegia which affects his mobility and movement.

It means he can not get out of the bath, fasten his shoes or cook a meal without discomfort. In a statement, the department said: "We are unable to comment on individual cases. Entitlement to Disability Living Allowance is not based on the diagnosis of a particular disability or illness, but on the care and mobility needs arising from the disability in each individual case."