DISABLED people have hit out at Swindon Council after they were slapped with a hike in charges to use mobility services around the town centre.

The Shopmobility store, based at the Wyvern Car Park in Islington Street, provides a range of scooters, manual wheelchairs, walking aids and power chairs to enable people with mobility problems to get out and about in the town.

But members say they are disgusted after the council increased the annual membership cost from £12.50 to £15. On top of that, the council has also introduced a new charge of £1 for every time someone wants to use the scooters.

Christopher Kopijka, 52, of Middleaze, has been a member for more than a year and is outraged at the added cost.

“It is basically taxing the disabled,” he said.

“A lot of people are really annoyed about this because they just can’t afford to come in to town as much anymore.

“Even if you only come in to town once a week, that is still an extra £52 on top of the membership money we are already paying.

“I don’t see why we should have to pay the membership money now if you have to pay £1 on top of that every time you use the scooters.

“They say it is to cover the costs of running them, but that is what we thought the membership fee was for.

“We don’t mind so much that the membership has gone up, but the idea is that once you have paid that, you can come and use the facilities as you like.

“I rang up last week and cancelled my membership in the end, it just isn’t fair, it is a tax on the disabled.”

The new charges were agreed by the cabinet as part of the budget proposals for 2012/13 and a spokesman for Swindon Council said despite the increase, the costs in Swindon remain among the lowest in the country.

He said: “The Shopmobility prices in Swindon remain among the most competitive and reasonable in the country.

“They haven’t increased for four years. We’d rather not have had to put the charges up at all, especially at a time like this, but we have to make sure they cover some of the cost of providing the service.

“The move to introduce a £1 daily usage charge for the scooters has been accepted by the Friends of Shopmobility as the most equal and reasonable way to pass on the cost to those who use the service most.

“We have not sprung this increase on users – we have done our best to let them know it was being introduced.”

In Warminster, users pay an annual fee of £20 as well as a £5 usage charge, while in Newbury, customers pay £10 annually and £3 usage charge. However, in Bath, users pay just £1 per hour with no annual fee.