Frail Peggy Harvey (83) had her infected right leg amputated at King's Mill Hospital after being admitted for an operation on a broken leg.

She returned to her Mansfield terraced house nine months ago but despite being confined to a wheelchair and in constant pain has not been provided with a bungalow she considers suitable.

"I just can't cope anymore," she told Chad. "Much of the time I just sit here and cry because I am in so much pain.

"I can't get upstairs, I don't have a ramp to get out of the house and the kitchen fittings are too high for someone in a wheelchair.

"All I am asking for is a bungalow close to my current home to make my life a little easier."

Housing bosses at Mansfield District Council say Mrs Harvey was removed from the priority housing list in June 2006 because she turned down a ground-floor flat in Mansfield Woodhouse.

But Mrs Harvey — who has been a widow for 20 years since her husband William died — told Chad this week that she did not want to move too far from her daughters.

She was waiting for a hip replacement operation when she suffered a fall as she cooked a meal in her kitchen in September 2005.

While at King's Mill it became clear her right leg was infected with the deadly MRSA superbug — though it remains unclear whether she was carrying the infection prior to being admitted.

"It was such a shock because I had always been a really active person," said Mrs Harvey. "To lose a leg like that is devastating and it is still terribly painful."

After spending some time at Mansfield Community Hospital, Mrs Harvey returned home in May last year but has seen life get harder and harder.

Yesterday Kelly Scott, general housing manager at the district council, said that Mrs Harvey had been removed from the priority housing list because she had refused the original offer of a property.

Said Mr Scott: "Because she refused the offer of suitable accommodation, Mrs Harvey was removed from the priority list in June 2006, but this was reinstated on 24th November 2006 because her medical situation changed.

"Unfortunately, ground floor accommodation is in high demand, and another suitable property is yet to become available.

"Mrs Harvey appears to have refused the accommodation because it is not in the area she requires rather than it not meeting her housing needs.

"As such it is felt the council has acted reasonably in offering her a property which is appropriate to her medical condition and is in accordance with an assessment from an occupational therapist."

This week Carolyn White, executive nurse director at the trust which runs King's Mill Hospital, said: "While it is still unclear whether Mrs Harvey was carrying the infection prior to her admission, there were no known cases of MRSA on the ward where she was cared for at that particular time, which would suggest this may not have been the result of cross-infection.

"All patients admitted for major orthopaedic surgery are now screened for MRSA and other infections as a matter of routine."