BEXLEY PENSIONERS BETRAYED: FAT CAT LOCAL TORIES STEAL MEALS ON WHEELS

3.20.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 31st May 2008

A local pensioner tells local Liberal Democrat campaigner Oliver Brooks that she thinks that Conservative councillors giving themselves a pay rise while axing Meals on Wheels is a disgrace.

Conservative controlled Bexley Council has axed the hot Meals on Wheels service to over 400 of the most vulnerable elderly residents in the borough. In the future they are being told to buy frozen meals directly from "accredited suppliers" and store them in a freezer to cook themselves.

Opposing the change, local Liberal Democrat campaigner Oliver Brooks said: "It is a disgrace that the Conservative Council thinks that telling the most vulnerable elderly residents to buy supermarket frozen meals is a replacement for the Meals on Wheels service.

"Not only does Meals on Wheels provide them with hot food. The people who deliver the meals keep an eye on their clients well-being and for some people it is the only face they see in the day.

"To do this at a time when Conservative councillors have voted themselves a backdated pay rise shows how little they care for those most in need."

• At the last council election the local Conservatives delivered a leaflet to every door in the area. In it they said they were "committed to providing help so elderly people can be cared for in their own homes". Now, just two years later, they have axed hot Meals on Wheels.