A 75-year-old Harold Hill man who was being treated in hospital for bowel cancer returned home to find that his back garden gate had been smashed up by vandals.

John Culverhouse was being treated for the recently diagnosed condition at Queen’s Hospital, and returned home to see the damage to the gate.

Mr Culverhouse said he fears for his safety in his council flat and is scared that the vandals may try to be trying to break in.

He said: “This was the last thing I needed to come home to. I can’t get about that easily, and I get very tired after the chemotherapy. I’ve been asking for weeks to get the gate made higher, and now this has happened to it.”

A police spokesman said that they are investigating the incident.