250 pensioners and vulnerable adults will have to pay for pendant alarms
Almost 250 pensioners and vulnerable adults will have to pay for pendant alarms in their own homes, it has emerged.
Users were forced to prove they meet certain criteria to continue receiving the service for free after the county council announced it was pulling funding.
A total of 1,263 people meet all the criteria, according to Cannock Chase Council, which currently delivers the alarms for free which allow older people to request help if they have an accident at home. However, 247 people face paying for the service from now on.
Bosses at the district council slammed the decision and then stepped in to fund a scaled-down version.
Cannock Chase Council spokeswoman Kate McBey said today: "To date the number of people who are eligible against all the criteria for the Cannock Chase Council funded community alarm service is 1,263 and we are in the process of confirming this by letter.
"A further 135 people meet all the criteria except one - the availability of a telephone landline. As long as they arrange the installation of a landline, they also will receive the free service.
"Overall, Cannock Chase Council expects that it will be providing a free service for approximately 1,350 people by March 2015."
See also: Under-threat Staffordshire pendant alarm scheme saved by district council.
The council has selected Stoke-based firm Tunstall as the supplier of the new dispersed community alarm equipment. Installation of the new equipment has already started in homes.
The criteria to qualify for free usage includes being over the age of 70 or in receipt of a disability-related benefit.
If they don't meet the criteria, people will have to pay out up to £86 a year.
Staffordshire County Council is slashing £6 million from is Supporting People Grant, despite huge criticism.
The fund, created in 2003, is used to provide housing-based support to groups, including those with mental health problems and the elderly.
Bosses at Cannock Chase Council called the decision 'disgusting'.
The county council is having to make £102m cuts from its budget over the next five years.
As part of the cuts, 24 of the 43 libraries across the county would be taken over by volunteers to save £1.3 million over the next three years. Youth clubs also face the axe.
