ELECTRIC wheelchairs belonging to doomed Trowbridge charity Shopmobility have been snapped up by Trowbridge Town Council for nearly £8,000.

Seven electric chairs and 15 manual chairs will be bought by the town council for £7,900 in case another operator wants to restart a similar charity in the future.

Controversy raged when the town council made a last-ditch offer to keep the cash-strapped charity open.

But charity officials said the offer came too late and decided to close, leaving scores of disabled shoppers without a key lifeline.

The charity needed upwards of £12,000 a year to stay open but faced a funding crisis this year when West Wiltshire District Council refused to plug the gap.

Cllr Jeff Osborn said he was concerned about town council money funding the redundancy package of a former employee, who lost her job when the charity folded earlier this month.