One-legged amputee has his benefit payments slashed after officials catch him playing cricket - despite help from a runner and umpire holding his crutch
A one-legged amputee has claimed he lost his disability benefits after Government investigators allegedly filmed him playing cricket for his local club.
Shaun Rigby, 37, said he was told by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that officials had covertly tailed him for weeks as part of a probe into his disability claim.
The married father-of-four was filmed batting for his local team - with the undercover footage then presented as evidence he 'wasn't disabled enough'.
The Government has now stopped his personal independence payment (PIP) benefits and taken away a car he leased to help with his mobility.
But Mr Rigby, who once represented England's disabled cricket team, said he can only play for Allscott Heath Cricket Club in Shropshire with the help of a runner and an umpire holding his crutch.
'I play cricket - it doesn't mean my leg has suddenly grown back,' he said.
'Are disabled people not allowed to take part in sport?'
Mr Rigby took up the sport as a seven-year-old boy and refused to let his disability get in the way after losing his leg below the knee in a horror tractor accident aged just two.
He works full-time as a sheet metal worker and has been in receipt of PIP since 2016 due to his disability, as well as a Motability car three years ago to help him get around after suffering further knee pain.
Despite his physical ailments, he was able to represent England's physical disability cricket team between 2012 and 2014, even flying to Dubai with them on tour.
He also represented the Shropshire's county disability cricket team, something he said he made 'no secret of'.
But Mr Rigby received a letter from the DWP on June 16 which informed him he was 'never eligible for the benefit' and the Government is now attempting to claw back the money.
He has been given 30 days to appeal and is now around £500 worse off every month after losing daily living and mobility allowance.
Mr Rigby, of Telford, Shrops, said he is outraged and has been made to feel like he is a benefits cheat.
'I was reviewed in 2016 via a home visit, during which the assessor said 'what am I doing here? Your leg will never grow back. You will get this for life',' he said.
'I am on co-codamol, amitriptyline and naproxen prescribed from my GP which I take moderately day-to-day to help ease the pain, and get me through work.
'On a cricket day I take more medication in the morning to help me through the day and make the pain more tolerable.
'I am still in pain but felt that some sort of activity and interaction with friends was good for my own wellbeing.
'On bad days I play cricket with a runner when batting and in the field, I'd be in positions where moving was limited and, if needed, the umpire would hold the crutch for me.'
He said that officials told him he was not entitled to any benefits because they had footage of him playing cricket - despite the fact he still needs help getting around.
'I'm at a loose end now. Everyone's telling me to appeal but it has all taken so much out of me, I don't think I can face it,' he said.
'I was already made to feel a criminal when I was told I had to be interviewed under caution at the Jobcentre.
'When I got there they informed me their surveillance teams had been following me around for three weeks and filming me play cricket.
'They are basically saying I am mobile enough and accusing me of lying on the application.'
He said he had ticked a box on his application which said he couldn't walk without pain, but he insisted he wasn't lying - he just tries to 'carry on through the pain'.
'They have judged me on 1 per cent of the time when I make an effort to get out, they don't see the other 99 per cent of me struggling at home,' he said.
'I don't know how they can justify this.'
The DWP said it could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
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