THE family of a severely disabled child will try to persuade planners on Thursday that they should be allowed to build a home that could save the life of their three-year-old daughter.

Rebecca and Damien Thursby are desperate to be able to build a house in Patney, near Devizes, next to the grandparents of their little girl Sophia, who is unable to walk or talk and needs to resuscitated up to eight times a day.

Mrs Thursby said: "Being allowed to build this house really could be the difference between life and death for Sophia. At the moment Sophia not only has seizures but she is also sick at the same time.

"So I have to try and resuscitate her and clear sick from her air waves. You really need two people to be able to do that safely. If we lived next door to her grandparents they would always be just moment away."

The couple receive help on two days a fortnight from Julia's House and the NHS provides sleep-in carers for three nights but for much of the time Mrs Thursby has to cope alone.

At the moment Mrs and Mrs Thursby, live in a rented home in All Cannings with Sophia and their son Harry, five. They have searched for two years for a suitable house to buy that they could convert to meet Sophia's complicated needs but without success.

They have be told that the cost of converting an ordinary house to make it suitable would be more than £100,000 and so adding this to the buying price of a house big enough to accommodate all of Sophia's specialist needs makes it unaffordable.

The couple have been given land by Damien's parents in Woodland Road and want to build a four bedroom home with a lift, very wide doors and corridors and reinforced ceilings to support hoists.

Mrs Thursby said: "At the moment I am unable to lift Sophia into some of her equipment on my own and have to wait for my husband to come home in the evening. If we lived next door to her grandparents they could just pop round to help me. It would also mean that they would be on hand to do things with Harry.

"This has completely taken over my life for the past two years. Apart from caring for Sophia this is all I can think about. I really hope the committee will see how great our need is."

She also pointed out that they had expert advice that said the needs of a disabled child should outweigh any planning guidance in the core strategy to do with the position of the house.

But the eastern area planning committee, which meets at 6pm this evening (15) in the Corn Exchange, Devizes, is recommended to refuse the application.

Officers say the position of the new house on rising undeveloped land would affect the identity and distinctive character of Patney.