Elderly people in Lancashire will soon have to pay more for their meals-on-wheels in the second price hike in two years.
Older and vulnerable folk will have to fork out more for their dinners and snacks because fewer people are using the service.
Lancashire County Council stopped subsidising the meals two years ago, pushing the price of a dinner up from £2.20 to £2.90.
It also controversially contracted out the service to a private firm late last year, to save money on the cost of making meals in-house.
The latest price rise means the cost of a hot meal will rise to £3.15 from July, while frozen, home-delivered meals will go up 10p to £2.50.
Meals served in day centres and snacks, such as sandwiches, will also cost more.
Council chiefs say meals-on-wheels cost more to provide if less people used the service.
Coun Chris Cheetham, cabinet member for adult and community services, also blamed the soaring cost of food prices for the rise in the cost of meals-on-wheels.
He said: "The increase in charges reflects the increase in the cost of food.
"There has been a general downward trend in the number of people taking up meals-on-wheels.
"We haven't done any real research into quite why people are not taking them up, but I think it comes back to being able to choose – people can go into supermarkets and buy ready-made frozen meals."
Most meals delivered within the county have been supplied by Leyland-based firm, I Care, since the council stopped cooking meals in its own kitchens in Preston last year.
Dave Laithwaite of I Care said prices were set by the council and the firm had no input into it.
>> Vote in our latest web poll
The full article contains 310 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
