Disabled and elderly people are being urged to have their say on proposed price hikes to care services.

Keighley-based campaigner Paul Anderson fears many people have not realised increases are being planned.

He urgently wants them to learn about impending changes to the funding of day care, home care and transport proposed by Bradford Council.

The council wants to increase contributions made by users, who are mostly elderly or disabled, to better reflect the true cost of providing the services.

Mr Anderson works with disability rights groups across the district as well as as being a co-ordinator at Keighley’s Temple Row Centre.

He said many people were unaware that consultation over the proposed changes had been going on since November.

He said: “This is going to push the disabled into poverty. They’re not going to have the independence or choice because they will be just paying to survive. People won’t go out because they can’t afford it, so they will get even more isolated.”

The proposed changes are a result of the council having to make millions of pounds of savings at the same time as demand on services increases due to a growing older population.

People already pay more than £20 a day for day care, but will in future be asked to pay a further £6 daily for transport and a meal.

At present they pay a maximum of £199 per week for services, but this ceiling could be removed.

The council points out that home-care is currently charged at £10.35 but costs the council £13.75, day care is charged at £20.58 a day but actually costs £35, and the Sitting Service is charged at £4.13 an hour but costs the council £12.75 an hour.

The council insists changes to contributions would be based on what people could reasonably afford to pay.

Coun Amir Hussain, the Council’s executive member for adult services, said: “We face a huge challenge in maintaining a fair, quality and affordable social care service in the face of reduced public sector funding and increasing demand."