THE Government minister spearheading an act of law to give disabled people better access to shops has visited Enham.

Maria Eagle, Minister for the Disabled, is overseeing the final stage of the Disability Discri-mination Act (DDA), making it illegal for service providers to stop disabled people accessing public services.

Enham residents were keen to fire questions at the Minister after testing out the practicalities of the new legislation for wheelchair shoppers in Andover High Street.

An area yet to be included in the DDA is transport - with many Enham residents only able to use the Cango bus between Enham and Andover.

Enham resident Sara Roberts asked why public transport wasn't included in the DDA and was told there was an anomaly in the legislation which needed to be put right to get existing buses and trains converted.

Other pressing questions from Enham residents included how individuals can assert their legal right and access shops which should be converted under the DDA, unless they are listed buildings.

The Minister said: "As a former solicitor I know just how hard it is for an individual to take people to court. "It's stressful and something you'd rather not do. But in the future disabled people will not have to go to court to get their rights. We expect disabled people to be taken into account in our community."

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