“I KNOW that if they cut transport, that will be the end of me.”

Rowena Cobb, 81, from Southmoor, is dreading the effect county council plans to cut transport to day centres would have on her life.

She is among hundreds of pensioners who would be affected by the move.

Mrs Cobb, who attends the Kingsmoor Club, in Hinton Waldrist, between Abingdon and Faringdon, said she could not afford to pay for taxis to get to the centre.

She said: “It’s so lonely at home. You sit on your own all day and the hours just seem to go on forever.

“It’s so stimulating here – we do all sorts of things.”

Violet Jeffs, 87, of Southmoor, also said taxi fares were too high for her.

She said: “If it was cut I don’t know what I would sink into. To me it’s the company.

“When you lose your partner everything happens – the family comes and there are all sorts of things you have to deal with – and then when all that finishes, you’re left alone.

“I couldn’t imagine it a few years ago, but I’ve got nothing now. You even start talking to yourself.”

Axeing the service, for which pensioners currently pay 82p per day, would save the council £1.3m a year as part of plans to cut £119m over the next four years.

The club is one of 18 clubs run by charity Age UK in the county, taking up to 12 people three times a week. Centre manager Gwyne Diment said about half of the users needed council transport, which is no longer offered to new day centre users.

She said: “Those are usually people who are wheelchair-bound or have difficulties walking.

“It’s going to mean that the most vulnerable and the most disabled aren’t going to be able to come.

“They don’t go anywhere else in their week.

“This is the main event in their week.

“It’s going to devastate individuals.”

And she said that the withdrawal of transport could lead to more OAPs moving into care homes, costing the council more in the long term.

Age UK Oxfordshire’s chief executive Paul Cann has urged volunteers to fill the gap left by the cut.

He said: “It’s clear to us that we need to look to the community to do a lot more in providing transport, and it’s crucial that the community steps up to the mark.”

The county council is also slashing its social care bill, affecting how it cares for people in the home.

Mr Cann said: “We’re deeply worried as to what it will mean.”

Council spokesman Louise Mendonca said that the cuts were being made because of “huge reductions in Government grant”.

While a decision had been taken on cutting funding, she added: “How this saving would be achieved has not been made and would only be decided following public consultation”.

  • If you are interested in volunteering, call Age UK on 01235 849407