Thousands voice fears on Ring and Ride cuts

Thousands of elderly and vulnerable people today voiced fears of losing their Ring and Ride privileges under plans to strip back the service.

Current users fear that proposals to cut funding by £500,000 and introduce means-testing will leave many people without transport.

A campaign to keep the service as it is, serving 70,000 people in the West Midlands, has been launched. Pensioner Iris Woodings is behind one petition, which has gathered almost 100 signatures in less than a week.

"The Ring and Ride has been a lifesaver for me. My husband George passed away 21 years ago, and while I was fine getting the bus for a while, it gets harder," said the 79-year-old grandmother of four from Bilston.

"I go to three clubs for elderly people, and almost all of them use the Ring and Ride to get there."

Due to budget cuts, Centro announced that the budget for the service would be slashed by £500,000 in the coming year.

People who get benefits because of disability or are aged 85 or over would be automatically eligible to use the door-to-door bus service provided by West Midlands Special Needs Transport.

But others would have to prove that they find it difficult to use alternative transport, by providing a prescription or a note from a doctor.

Every member at the weekly senior citizens' club at Hurst Hill Community Centre in Sedgley has signed the petition so far. Two Ring and Ride buses transport people from

Dudley to the club each week, along with one from Wolverhampton.

The club has been run by Yvonne Flavell, 73, of Woodsetton, for 13 years with the help of her 76-year-old husband Malcolm. She said: "If it wasn't for the Ring and Ride, at least half of them wouldn't be able to get here. People are very concerned."

Janet Massey, 78, said she caught the Ring and Ride to clubs every week.

"It means I can get out and go places. If I couldn't get that, then I wouldn't be able to go anywhere," said the grandmother of six, from the Old Park Farm area of Dudley.