A disabled man has said he was forced to discharge himself from hospital to deal with squatters who had taken over his home.

Michael Casbolt, 56, broke his hip in October – two years after suffering a stroke - and taken to Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone in October.

After giving the key to a friend to collect some belongings, he was told the locks had been changed and nobody could get in.

He called the police and social services for help, but claims he was left to deal with the situation alone.

A concerned nurse at Whipps took the key to his home and confirmed it would no longer work.

As the locksmiths were unable to break the door down and enter the property, he said he was forced to give up rehabilitation treatment and leave the hospital.

When he finally returned home, he found his home empty but ransacked.

He said: “I called the police who said they tried the door and there was nobody there.

“In the end I had to discharge myself from hospital because I was so worried about my home.

“They broke in the door and all my stuff was gone. 

“I can only assume they saw me being carried out on a stretcher and thought I was dead.

“The police did nothing. They could have caught them in the house or got fingerprints and they just didn’t act.

Costas Kyriakides, 61, met Mr Casbolt in hospital and offered to help him after he was discharged,

He said: “Michael had to discharge himself from hospital and because of that he didn’t have any care for a week.

“I met him in hospital and I have been helping him. If I didn’t he would have been here for a week unable to even empty his commode.

“I researched the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and it said the police can gain entry to a person’s house to get rid of squatters.

“Nobody has helped him.”

Police in Waltham Forest have been asked to comment.