A CHARITY for the disabled may be forced to shut down.

Marie Ward, of the Durham County Association for the Disabled, said she fears for the charity's future if Durham County Council does not step in.

In the past, the council provided buses to drive about 150 disabled people from all over the county to a disabled persons' rally twice a year, organised by the association.

But at the end of last month, just two weeks before the 47-year-old rally was due to be held, the council told the charity it would have to pay for the transport. Then, later, it withdrew the offer to provide transport at all.

The council is still not committing itself to providing transport for the next rally in December.

And Ms Ward fears that the charity could not survive without future rallies.

She said: "These rallies are the biggest thing the charity does - they are an opportunity for disabled groups all over the county to get together and have some fun.

"But we just can't afford to pay for private transport to get people to the rally. They are fundraising events for us, we don't make that much from them, and to pay for transport would mean we had raised no money at all.

"We have been holding these get-togethers since 1955. If the council can't provide us with transport, it looks like it will be the end of the rallies and the end of the association."

A Durham County Council spokesman said: "We will look at the situation in the future. We would help if the resources are available at that moment in time.

"A unique combination of circumstances came together this year which made it impossible to recruit as many volunteer drivers as usual to transport people to the rally. That situation is unlikely to happen again.

"It is a worthwhile cause and we would like to help in any way we can."