A free service which helps people with mobility problems in Oxford could be at risk if electric scooters are more heavily regulated.

Robin Brooks, manager of Oxford City Council's Shopmobility service, has criticised plans to review the law on mobility scooters.

At the moment their Class Two machines, which are used on the pavement and limited to four miles per hour, do not need any documentation.

Scooters which can be ridden on the road and can exceed eight miles per hour, known as Class Three scooters, must be registered with the DVLA.

But, amid concerns about accidents involving scooters, the Department of Transport is reviewing the rules and there have been calls for all scooters to be taxed, MOT'd and insured.

Mr Brooks, 49, said greater regulation could mean Shopmobility, which already pays for £2m worth of liability insurance, would have to charge users.

He said: "It would spoil an awful lot of older people's lives. It gives them so much freedom.

"We train all our customers. We have not had a serious accident in 10 years."

Peter Browning, whose wife Sharon, 49, has acute arthritis in her legs and uses the free service, said a charge on Shopmobility scooters would amount to an extra tax for disabled people.

He said: "It is a lifeline because these scooters are not cheap.

"If you haven't got your own this is the only way you can go shopping in Oxford."

Kirsty Althorpe, from the Department of Transport, said: "We recognise that the vast majority of people who use these machines do so safely but we need to balance the needs of users with other people using the roads and the pavements."