A WAR veteran who lost both his legs after being shot on a tour of duty is finally going to have his garden fence fixed after a two year battle.

Bob Shaw, 74, says he asked about the broken fencing at the back of his home in North Avenue, Farnworth, when he first moved into the property in 2017 but that it has remained damaged since.

Family members were concerned about the collapsed panels as the gardens leads into an alleyway where residents have noticed problems with vandals setting fires and causing damage.

However, after an appeal on social media by neighbour Nathan Blower highlighted the issue, a local firm, Farnworth Fencing, has offered to repair the fence.

“It’s a relief to get it sorted,” Mr Shaw said.

“I’m very proud of what they’ve done for me. I was just going to carry on and make the money and try and do it myself but when people heard about it they said, ‘You’re a veteran, someone should help’.”

Mr Shaw, who gets around with the use of crutches and two prosthetic legs, was in the army for nearly 10 years from 1963 to 1972, serving across the world, including five tours in Northern Ireland.

He sustained a gunshot wound early in his time in the army which ultimately caused him to have problems with his circulation, eventually leading to the amputation of both legs.

His son-in-law, Gareth Jennings, said the former soldier would have been unlikely to make a fuss out of the fencing, despite the fact it was a problem.

“He just gets on with it,” Mr Jennings said.

“He’s a great lad, he would do anything for anybody, he’s laid back, if somethings wrong he won’t shout about it.

“I have said to the council on many occasions that we will take it further and they have just not been interested.”

The home is owned by Bolton at Home and the housing authority say that their tenants are responsible for the upkeep of fencing.

However, a representative from the group has now been to visit Mr Shaw, and they are inspecting the damage.

A spokesman for Bolton at Home said: “While new or replacement fencing sometimes forms part of our planned capital refurbishment programmes within neighbourhoods, general fencing repairs remain the responsibility of the tenant in most cases. This is reflected within our tenancy agreements. Since we learned of Mr Shaw’s situation we have been in touch with him and our team will visit to carry out an inspection of his fencing to see what support we might be able to provide.”