Cost row at Beacon Centre for the Blind

It was a tearful goodbye when pensioner Maggie Rush left her friends at the day centre where she has gone for seven years.

The blind 69-year-old is among up to 25 people who have cancelled their membership at Beacon Centre for the Blind.

Pensioners have said they can no longer afford to go to the Sedgley facility after a £16-a-day flat rate fee for people with a certain sum in the bank was imposed.

Bosses today urged them to take the time to reconsider before giving up.

For almost a decade, grandmother-of-six Mrs Rush has paid nothing but the £5 for her lunch to spend every Friday with her friends at the day centre at Beacon, in Wolverhampton Road East.

They played bingo, had exercise classes and caught up on the latest gossip.

But a letter last week from Wolverhampton City Council told her she would have to pay £28, (£16 plus charge for other activities) for every visit, as part of a city wide budget cuts.

Maggie, a former cleaner of Treynham Close, Wolverhampton, is now among 25 people who have cancelled their membership at the Beacon alone.

"I just don't understand why they are doing it," she said. "Everyone had a good cry on Friday, I will miss all my friends.

"I have been going to the centre for seven years and I haven't had a Friday in at home in all that time.

"I am lucky because at least I have my husband, but some of my friends there are on their own and it is all they do all week."

Wolverhampton City Council pays for 150 people to attend the day service.

Caroline Roberts, manager of the day centre, said: "We have encouraged some who were coming two days a week to still come one day and have suggested everyone think about it."