KENNET councillors have supported moves to grant £5,000 to enable more good neighbour Link schemes to be set up.

Kennet District Council's transportation sub-committee heard on Thursday that the Wiltshire Link project was formed in 1996 with money from the National Lottery and the Rural Development Commission.

The council's director of resources, Frank Marshall, said Link schemes consisted of groups of volunteers who give elderly or disabled people lifts to doctors' surgeries, hospital appointments and for other essential journeys.

The volunteers were organised by a co-ordinator and the individual schemes were supported by grant aid as well as contributions from users.

Kennet gives £6,000 a year in grant aid to the 11 schemes in the district, including those at Devizes, Marlborough, Pewsey, The Bedwyns, Upavon, Rushall and Charlton.

The committee was being asked to approve a grant of an extra £5,000, which would be used to support the Wiltshire Link Schemes project based at Community First in Devizes. It would fund two case workers, one to work with groups wanting to set up Link schemes and one to support existing schemes.

Financial support has already been pledged by Wiltshire County Council, two district councils, the Countryside Agency and Lloyds TSB Bank.

But Coun Tony Still was concerned Kennet would be funding unnecessary bureaucracy. He said: "We would be putting money into a head office with no guarantee of getting any benefit."

Mr Marshall said Kennet would benefit from the new schemes being set up in the district and from the support being received by existing schemes from project workers. The sub-committee voted unanimously to recommend the full council approves the grant.