ELDERLY residents across the district have been forced to abandon their home help after fees rocketed.

So far more than 20 pensioners have cancelled the lifeline service after receiving an 'out of the blue' letter from Lancashire County Council informing them of a rise in charges for non-residential care services.

One outraged Morecambe pensioner, who has relied on two hours a week of care for £2 since suffering a stroke, has seen the price hiked by £20 per week.

"It is wrong but it is an epidemic that we are seeing across the country with services being taken away from those who need and deserve it - but the problem is escalating," says Andrea Lane, of Help the Aged.

"Elderly people are entitled to this kind of home help and taking it away is very worrying for the elderly. For costs to go up at this rate when income has not gone up is very unfair," she adds.

Andrew Lynn, spokesman at Lancashire social services, says the council is acting on a 'statutory obligation' to introduce new national guidance on charging, which specifically takes into account people's individual expenses.

He adds: "This has led to increased charges for some service users but a large number of people have had a reduction and in many cases have become exempt from care charges."

The rise in charges has come as a shock for local care service providers, who say they are concerned that the elderly will suffer more.

The Citizen contacted several care homes who felt they were unable to comment because they were contracted by social services.