THOUSANDS more people around Malvern could benefit from a travel scheme if an appeal for more than £200,000 is successful.

Dial-A-Ride is looking to expand its door-to-door transport service for people with temporary or permanent disabilities across the whole of the Malvern Hills district.

But first the service, run by the Plynlimon Trust, needs to secure funding of £206,500 from local businesses and charitable trusts.

The extra money will provide three new minibuses, two sets of portable wheelchair ramps, salaries for two drivers/care assistants for three years and contributions to operating costs for three years of £20,000 per annum.

Tom Blumer, business development manager for Dial-A-Ride, said the service, which was launched in Malvern last October, is picking up very well.

"This money would be used to dedicate more vehicles to Malvern," he said.

"At the moment we are doing about 500 trips a month in Malvern and we estimate we will do about 5,000 per year, probably more," he said.

The scheme was established in Hereford in 1986 and offers a wheelchair accessible minibus service available to elderly people, people with mental/physical illnesses or disabilities and isolated people unable to access public transport.

The average cost of a journey to users is £4.

At present it is only open to those people who live within the Malvern Town Council area because it was launched with the help of the Town Council.

But Mr Blumer said they always intended to move into other areas of Malvern.

"We'd like to think that within a year we'll have raised the money but we've got to attract the interest of trusts and companies," he said.

Ward Councillor for The Hanleys, Toby Bruce-Morgan, said he thought people across the district would welcome this service in their area.

"Certainly it is a service that should be encouraged and anything we can do to help it along should happen," he said.

Parish Council Chairman, Brian Wilcock, said the service would be very useful to some people.

"The trouble with these services is that a lot of people say they would like them but then they don't use them. Obviously we would have to advertise it if they were bringing it in to Malvern Wells," he said.

Coun John Raine, West Ward, said in principal he was enthusiastic about the scheme.

"But it can be frustrating when new services are introduced and people don't take them up," he said.

The appeal has already received a cheque for £500 from the Malvern branch of Barclays.