Proposals to stop a service for disabled shoppers have come under fire.

Shopmobility – which provides motorised scooters for a small fee – is likely to end on August 1 unless someone else comes in to take over.

Maidstone Town Centre Management is unable to afford the programme, which has cost £26,000 over the past five years.

The difference between income and costs is around £3,500 a year – a margin the not-for-profit organisation can no longer endure.

The scheme puts three scooters at the Mall Chequers and two at Fremlin Walk. Both shopping centres support the decision, but will still have ordinary wheelchairs available for customers.

In the past, shoppers were able to take mobility scooters all around the town centre, but this had to be stopped due to high maintenance costs. There were also reports of them being abandoned and not returned.

Stephen Beerling, a disabled rights advocate and former councillor for Fant ward, is disappointed.

He said: “It’s the wrong thing to do, it really is. If you provide the service then people will use it. It’s wrong to say they can’t afford it. There must be somewhere in the overall budget. There has to be something they can do.

“If they are going to close it, it’s a damn shame.” About 60 people are registered with the service but only around 30 have used it in the past year.

The initiative’s only regular income is a one-off £5 membership fee and £3 hire charge.

Even if costs were to be increased, the income generated would still be too low.

A spokesman for Town Centre Management said: “We are keenly aware of the value of the facility to its members, and with this in mind we are seeking another organisation, body or individual who may be in a position to take it over.

“If we are unsuccessful we propose to close the service.

“Should this occur, the wheelchairs will continue to be available for customer use at both the Mall Chequers and Fremlin Walk, and we would seek to donate the mobility scooters to an appropriate organisation.”