A SCHEME that hires out mobility aids in Caldicot is under threat unless more people support it.

The management board of Caldicot Shopmobility met recently to discuss the future of the scheme.

The volunteer-run scheme, based at the cabin in Jubilee Way car park, will be funded by Monmouthshire council’s transport budget until March next year, but funding will be withdrawn unless there is a considerable increase in use.

Donations or surplus funds also help with the upkeep of the vehicles.

A regular user of the service is 65-year-old Lindsay Walkley, from Caldicot, who uses the service to go shopping in the town twice a week.

She said: “I don’t own a scooter of my own so I have to rely on the service. If I were to lose this service, I would not be able to go shopping in Caldicot.

“The people who run it are so kind and bring the scooter to my car and even put the shopping in my boot.”

Ms Walkley explained that she would have to travel out of Caldicot to supermarkets who offer scooter services and would no longer be able to shop locally.

She added: “It’s worth its weight in gold to me. We just want people to use it so we don’t lose this brilliant service.”

Ms Walkley believes that there is the need for the service but that people do not know about it. She hopes that publicising the service will help increase service users.

Area services officer for Monmouthshire council, Alan Browne, who is on the board, said: “Within the last month one person has used it. We can’t keep it going if that’s the only use it’s going to get.” The cabin is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10am till 1pm.