A Watford pensioner desperate to get home has been "stuck" in hospital in Aylesbury for two weeks because the county cannot find carers for her.

Margaret Maughan, 86, was admitted to Stoke Mandeville Hospital for an operation.

Doctors gave her the all clear a fortnight ago, but a lack of appropriate home carers means she can't leave and has to "take up a hospital bed needed by someone else".

Mrs Maughan, who lives with her sister in Oxhey Road, said: "I should be going home, but they cannot provide me with a carer. It's been two weeks and I'm still waiting.

"There's so many people needing to come to hospital and I'm taking up a bed. And until social services finds some carers I can't go home - I don't know how long it could take.

"I've lived in Watford for 57 years, I have got a nice house that has been adapted for someone in a wheelchair and I don't want to be in hospital when I don't have to be."

Mrs Maughan had home carers to help her before she went to hospital, but because of the length of her stay they were reassigned.

Hertfordshire County Council said social services was working to get her home as soon as possible.

But a carers charity branded the situation "crazy".

Roma Mills, from Carers in Hertfordshire, said there is a shortage of carers in the county.

She said despite attempts by the council to ensure carers now receive a decent wage, the job is still not valued as well as it should be and recruitment problems are continuing.

Ms Mills said: "This poor woman now has to spend longer in hospital, which means she has a greater chance of getting an infection and through no fault of her own she's taking up a hospital bed that could be used by someone who needs it.

"The difficulty is the shortage of home care workers. The costs of keeping Mrs Maughan in an acute hospital bed are very high. This is a crazy situation. It leads to desperately unhappy elderly people who would rather be in their own homes, which is also a better system of care, not being able to get the support they need."

In a statement, Hertfordshire County Council said: "We have been in regular contact with Mrs Maughan and are working with care providers to arrange an appropriate care package that will allow her to return home as soon as possible."