PENSIONER Edith Parsons fears cuts to transport for the elderly will stop her friends going to their social club.

Mrs Parsons uses the Dial-a-Ride service get to her weekly social club at the New Marston Pastoral Centre in Jack Straws Lane, Oxford.

The 85-year-old Northway resident said she feared cuts to the service – which come into force in April – would lead to a drop in numbers at the club.

The Broadhead Place resident said: “I am very angry about it, and it is not just me who is.

“Just because we have reached a certain age it doesn’t mean all we want to do is play bingo. Because of these changes some people might very well stop going to the club and put a stop to their social lives.

“Instead of punishing the weak and vulnerable I suggest that the respective councils cancel their sumptuous dinners.”

Oxfordshire’s five district councils have decided to no longer run the scheme and only one will continue putting money towards it.

But the county council has stepped in to fund the service, which it is not legally obliged to do, providing one bus a day, five days a week in the city and each of the county’s four other districts.

Currently Oxford has two buses a day, while West Oxfordshire and Vale have one, Cherwell has between five and seven and South Oxfordshire has none.

But Mrs Parsons said she was determined not to stop going to her social club every Thursday, which starts at 2.30pm and lasts two hours.

Christine Burden runs the Sweet Memories Senior Citizens’ Club in Percy Street.

She said: “I am really concerned about the changes. For the people who come to my club once a week it is a lifeline and if they don’t come they will just sit at home and their lives won’t be worth living.

“The people making these cuts need to come into the real world.”

County councillor Rodney Rose, cabinet member for transport, said: “This is all about securing the best possible, unified level of service with the funding we have at our disposal. We know Dial-a-Ride offers a transport lifeline for some of the county’s most vulnerable residents and we want to continue to offer this service for people across Oxfordshire.”

Currently the service is funded by the district councils and the county council to the tune of £470,000. Oxfordshire County Council will continue putting its £160,000 into the service from April.

The so-called “baseline” service – funded by the county council – will run between 9am and 5pm across the county.

Each district has the opportunity of “topping-up” the service by funding extra buses.

Cherwell District Council is the only one which has chosen to do so, meaning there will be two buses three days a week in the area.