A CHORLEY pensioner riddled with arthritis is distraught after social services chiefs axed her home help.

Mrs Eunice Clarke, 86, of Quarry Road, received a letter from the county council informing her of the decision last Friday.

And she may now have to pay to have her pension collected and her house cleaned.

The letter states: "Following the assessor's recent visit to review the service you are receiving, I am sorry to inform you we are no longer able to offer you a service ."

Mrs Clarke, who lives on her own, explained: "They are saying that because I can get myself up and use my hands I don't need home help and they're going to cancel it after May 11.

"But I have arthritis in my legs and a heart condition and I'm housebound because I can hardly walk. I can't use a walking stick either, because I fall over it."

At present a local home help visits Mrs Clarke on Mondays, delivers her pension on a Thursday and does her shopping inbetween, but the service will be withdrawn next month.

Mrs Clarke went on: "They say I'm going to have to pay for a cleaner and someone to bring my pension round. But who does my shopping? I have family in Whittle-le-Woods but I can't expect them to come trailing round all the time.

"I can't understand why I'm being put on one side like this. Are they just casting old people off? They are not considering their responsibilities."

But David Burnham, county council district purchasing manager, told the Citizen: "We do regular reviews to make sure we aren't wasting taxpayers' money. The fact is Mrs Clarke leads an active life and gets out and about so she doesn't meet the eligibility criteria for help."

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