IMAGINE being elderly, alone, housebound and even bed-ridden.

Imagine being entirely dependent upon carers coming to give you a drink, feed you, clean you and change you. Then, imagine the carer not turning up.

You may be still laying in the dark because no one has drawn the curtains for you. You are lying in a urine-soaked sheet. You may be very thirsty and, as an elderly person, dehydrated.

You are hungry because no one has given you anything to eat since tea-time the previous day.

You can't help yourself because you may be bed-ridden, and/or demented or disabled. You are alone, crying out for help and no one hears you.

So why did your carer not turn up until very late in the day or not at all on Sunday, July 18?

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and Ealing Council disrupted traffic, closed roads and had buses diverted to allow cyclists to have a jolly ride around the streets. Their thinking was limited to how emergency and disability vehicles might have access.

As a result, I met carers who were severely affected by this as they attempted to travel to their clients. They are low paid and rely on an efficient bus service.

The needs of a very vulnerable group of elderly people, for whom a carer's visit is an absolute lifeline throughout the day, were completely ignored in the planning of this event.

If some bright spark at Ealing Council or TfL says people should have rung them if they have special needs, then consider how a lonely, demented elderly person might have even known about it, let alone try to

ring. All they would know is their carer hasn't been to help them.

Even for one day only, this was still abusive treatment of the elderly and, quite frankly, not acceptable.

JANET COUZENS address supplied