Bradford Council came under fire today from a national charity over its charges for social services care.

Mencap - which campaigns for people with learning disabilities - says disabled people in Bradford are among the most deprived in Britain.

The broadside came as the charity announced many local authorities may be acting illegally by making unreasonable charges to people with learning difficulties. But Bradford Council says it has taken legal advice on the matter.

The charity released its publication Fully Charged today looking at the problems across the country for people now having to pay for day centres and other facilities.

It says the Government must look at charging policies as a matter of urgency. Mencap warns that if action is not taken, disabled people will be unable to go to day centres and will lose any independence they have gained.

The charity says the charges should not be imposed on people receiving income support and that it represents a tax on disability.

Although Bradford is not singled out in the report, a spokesman from Mencap's national headquarters in London said: "There is a particular problem in Bradford. People are on low incomes and finding it very difficult to afford and people are going to appeals and getting turned down."

And Susan Munro, secretary of Keighley Mencap, said: "We feel disabled people are being discriminated against. Other people use services like libraries and aren't charged."

The report comes as Bradford Council prepares to serve summonses on four disabled and elderly people living in the district for not paying the charges.

Chairman of the Council's social services committee, Councillor Mike Young, says people are withholding charges on principle and many have built up debts of more than £1,000.

He says Bradford's charges are legal and there is an appeal system if people say they cannot afford them. He says income is also fully considered when charges are made.

But today Tina Burke, who lives in Ingrow, Keighley, said she believed Mencap was right and her disabled son Peter was refusing to pay the charges for his day centre, which now total about £1,000.

She said: "He cannot afford it and I have always said these charges should never have been made."

Bradford Council brought in the charges in a storm of controversy and in the face of a major campaign involving thousands of people.

The charges range from £2 to £9.50 a week and offer an individual package to each person.

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