This year is the last chance for war widows to receive funding to visit their husbands' graves, the Royal British Legion warned today.

For 17 years the government has covered seven-eighths of the travel costs for the bereaved to visit the burial place of their loved ones.

The scheme has allowed more than 4,000 widows to go all over the world with the Legion's Remembrance Travel programme.

The organisation has also taken relatives of those who died in service and those interested in history to visit war graves, memorials and battlefields in more than 40 countries, including Burma, North Africa and France.

Secretary of the Bradford branch of the Royal British Legion, Jim Hargreaves said: "The widows that this scheme was set up to help are now in their 80s and 90s and many are unfit to travel.''

The 81-year-old added: "The generation is fading very quickly and so the need is gone. It has served its purpose."

The first Legion 'pilgrimage' in 1927 involved 150 visiting cemeteries and battlefields in Ypres, Belgium, to remember those who died in the First World War. The price was £5, which included eggs for breakfast.

The 2002 programme includes a trip to Egypt for the 60th anniversary of the battle of El-Alamein and an opportunity to attend the Armistice Day Memorial service at Burma's Rangoon Memorial.

For more information on the war widows scheme or a 2002 Remembrance Travel brochure ring (01622) 716729182 or visit www.remembrancetravel.com.