COUNCIL bosses have announced changes to a scheme providing free taxi journeys for pensioners and disabled people in Darlington.

The borough council's existing taxi vouchers initiative gives pensioners who have problems with travelling and disabled people £50 worth of coupons.

They can be used for journeys in any wheelchair-accessible vehicle in the town. But the council said the scheme had faced criticism because there were too few such vehicles in operation.

Now, the authority is drawing up plans to amend the scheme so that disabled people, anyone over the age of 75 and anyone living in a care home, can use the vouchers in any kind of taxi.

If approved by officials, the scheme would come into effect in October this year. The current scheme was introduced by the council in 1993 after concerns about fraud in the previous system were raised.

The authority said it had limited the use of taxi tokens to fully-accessible vehicles in the hope that there would be more of the purpose-built taxis brought into service in the town.

Nick Wallis, the council's cabinet member for highways and transport said: "People are telling us that there are not enough wheelchair-accessible taxis in the town.

"I hope the new scheme will help to meet the travel needs of many more people across the town."

The council said grants of up to £3,000 were available to encourage the purchase of specially-adapted taxis.

It faced criticism last week for a delay in sending out the latest batch of taxi vouchers.

Printing problems meant that some residents were left without the vouchers, while there were also hold-ups in sending out concessionary bus passes.

However, the council said extra staff had been brought in to ensure that the problems were resolved.