A son claims his 90-year-old mother is being “abused” by the social care system after being left without carers for a month.

Andrew Aarons, of Lyndhurst Rise, Chigwell, says his mother, Vera, has not had a carer visit her home in four weeks after the family had a series of rows with Essex County Council.

Mr Aarons, 51, made a string of complaints earlier this year after a firm contracted by the local authority to provide care for his mother repeatedly missed appointments.

The council accepted the firm “did underperform and calls were missed”, apologised to the family and assigned a new agency to Mrs Aarons.

However, Mr Aarons says he was forced to file more complaints weeks later after the second agency changed its schedule, meaning his mother received her three daily visits within the space of just five hours.

The family now say they have not had a carer visit their home in a month and blame the situation for Mrs Aarons being hospitalised recently with a urinary tract infection.

Mr Aarons said: “We are at a stalemate at the minute and it is very hard. I am not well myself and sometimes my mother needs help taking her tablets or drinking enough water.

“But at the minute she has no regime, her day is all over the place.

“It is a horrible situation for me, but it is also an abuse being put on a 90-year-old woman, it is affecting her health.”

In a letter sent to Mr Aarons in March, Essex County Council claimed the son’s behaviour had become “increasingly threatening” towards council staff during the dispute.

It said as a result his contact would be limited to dealing with a single council officer via email, although Mrs Aarons would still be free to call a social worker herself at any time.

Mr Aarons added: “I am disabled, I am not a violent person, if they thought I was any form of threat they would call the police.”

“I feel as if I have been blacklisted in social care, which I would not care about, apart from the fact it is now affecting my mother’s health.”

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: “We are aware of this family and have been working with them for some time.

“However, owing to data protection we are unable to comment in any detail on an individual basis.

“The safety and welfare of our residents, particularly our most vulnerable are of utmost importance to us, and we will continue to work with the family to support them.”