People across Oxfordshire are backing Green candidates' demands to end the high charges for personal care demanded by Oxfordshire Social Services.

Campaigners have been signing a petition that calls upon the Government to end all charges for vital personal care and asks Oxfordshire County Council to immediately end charges on those least able to afford them.

Thousands of people with severe disabilities are being charged by Oxfordshire County Council for being bathed, washed, helped out of bed and using the toilet. The Green Party's spokesperson on Social Services, Councillor Sushila Dhall, who is standing for re-election in Oxford Central division, said: "Greens believe it is morally wrong for disabled people to pay for vital personal care

"That is why we have been the only party to vote against the increases in charges which have led Oxfordshire to become one of the highest charging councils in the country."

Larry Sanders, a long-time disability activist and Green Party candidate in Oxford East division, said: "The charges are in effect an additional tax on top of local taxation, Inland Revenue and National Insurance which the service users have already paid.

"We do not expect to pay extra for the police to investigate a crime against us or to a hospital for medical care. Charging for vital personal care is very much like charging for health care. It amounts to a tax on disability."

The Green Party is convinced that the majority of people in Oxfordshire are against the charges.