A disability campaigner is calling on the council to use planning developments as a way of gaining step-free access at borough tube stations.

Conrad Tokarczyk, who lives in Ruislip, believes Hillingdon Council missed a ‘golden opportunity’ to get funding for step-free access at South Ruislip station from the developers of the multi-million pound plan for the Arla Foods site in Victoria Road when it was granted planning permission last month.

The council is understood to have obtained around £2.7million from the developer Citygrove in Section 106 money and Community Infrastructure Levy - which is paid by developers of large projects to be spent on supporting the build - but most of it is earmarked for road improvements to reduce the impact of the build on traffic in South Ruislip.

Wheelchair user Mr Tokarczyk, joined forces with the borough's Paralympic double gold medallist Natasha Baker to campaign for Hillingdon's Tube and railway stations to be made accessible to disabled people.

He said: “I hope that it will become common practice for councils to seek opportunities to use new developments to implement step-free access, by entering negotiations with Transport for London (TFL), when new development schemes are authorised.

“It would be terrible to waste such a golden opportunity to provide step-free access at South Ruislip station because this sort of development doesn’t happen every day.”

Jean Palmer, Deputy Chief Executive of Hillingdon Council and Corporate Director of Residents Services, said the council is actively involved in discussions with TFL to make stations more accessible.

“Delivering step free access at a station is often a major and expensive challenge and is not something a developer of another site would build, rather it is something TFL would deliver subject to the necessary funding being available,” she explained.

In the case of South Ruislip station, she said: “Despite the obvious moral and legal arguments in favour of step-free access, a combination of the restrictions on what can realistically be sought as S106 planning obligations from another site and the existence of TFL funding meant that a meaningful contribution [towards step-free access] was not possible.”

At the moment there is no step-free access at Central Line stations in Ruislip or at Ruislip, Ruislip Manor, Ickenham or Eastcote stations on the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines.

There is also no step-free access at Hayes and Harlington or West Drayton rail stations.

In early October the Mayor of London 's office confirmed plans for a £75million fund to match contributions from local councils and property developers for improvements to make stations more accessible.

Ms Palmer said: “The council is pushing hard for the Mayor to invest as much of the fund as is possible in improving stations in Hillingdon.”

In February, Boris Johnson backed a plan to bring step-free access to Harrow-on-the-Hill Tube station.

He is running to become MP for the Conservatives in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat in next year's general election against Labour's Chris Summers , who said he is supporting Mr Tokarczyk's campaign.

"I am also worried that we might have missed a great opportunity to introduce step-free access at South Ruislip station.

"From the developers' point of view surely it is in their interests for more people - disabled people, the elderly and people with children in buggies - to be able to access their cinema and supermarket using public transport," Mr Summers said.