A LETTER from an 89-year-old Minehead pensioner who fears she will go blind if a threatened cut in hospital concessionary travel goes ahead, has been sent to all Somerset’s 55 county councillors urging them to think again.

In her letter, which has also gone to local district councillors, Mrs Minnie Read says: “I am blind in one eye and my sight is failing in the other. Only the eye clinic stops my sight going completely.

“If you cut the fare concessions I won’t be able to afford my hospital and shopping trips. I’ll lose my independence and certainly my eyesight.”

The letter is one of over 300 from elderly and unwell people which have been received by Minehead-based transport charity Atwest protesting against proposed county council cuts in hospital and community transport schemes.

They are one of 14 local organisations fighting proposed cuts - due to be voted on by the county council in February in an attempt to balance its books.

All car and bus scheme operators have urged their users to have their say by taking part in an SCC consultation, which closes on Monday (January11).

“The response against these plans has been overwhelming,” said Atwest project officer Barbara Middleton.

“Support has come from all levels, from politicians of all parties to the old and disabled who often find it difficult to express their views. But they know these cuts would be life-changing for them.”

In West Somerset, Atwest and the 14 voluntary car schemes serve 7,000 people, a third over 80. Atwest also runs 23 minibuses which take passengers from remote areas on shopping and social trips.

Last year the charity catered for nearly 47,000 individual journeys and was used by a fifth of the local population.

If approved, the county council cuts would reduce fare concessions by half – currently registered passengers on bus and car schemes can have 50 per cent of their journeys refunded up to a maximum of £5.

About 80 per cent of Atwest journeys carry the disabled and elderly to medical appointments and the project runs shopping services for a £2 fare.

In her letter, Mrs Read wrote: “If you increase my fares for shopping and hospital it will cost me at least £320 more per year on top of the £380 I already pay.

“That’s £700 a year to find just for transport – and it will take £13.50 a week off my pension.

“I can’t use a bus – I can’t see well enough – and the car scheme drivers help me. If I still go out I’ll have to cut down on my heating.

“The concessionary fare is my lifeline. Do you really understand what you are about to do? You’ll be hitting a lot of folk like me. It’s going to be lonely old world for us.”

Car scheme organisers had also contacted their parish councils and other organisations, urging them to write to the county council in support of not cutting the fares.

“We know of a number who have done this, and at the AGM we will hear more on what people have been doing.”

Support for the protest has also come from local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, who claimed that the cuts for West Somerset had not been thought through.

He said the county council had to recognise the special circumstances in West Somerset and rethink its proposals.

Community transport provided not only an affordable means of getting to hospital or the shops, but also vital social contact.

“Many are now faced with making a choice between cutting their spending on heating or on food if they are to continue using this invaluable service,” he said.

The partnership is holding its AGM on Tuesday January 12 and the cuts will be the main item on the agenda, with four county councillors for the area attending.