A minibus service which has provided a lifeline for residents of a Perivale estate may come to a standstill at the end of the year unless vital funds are found.

The Medway Millennium Minibus, which has ferried residents twice daily three times a week from the Medway estate to Perivale Station, Tesco and West Ealing supermarkets free since January, will only run in the mornings from August 7 and will need £6,000 to continue even that reduced service from January.

The service, which has been funded from money given to the council by Tesco after a planning agreement, has been refused continued support from the supermarkets it stops at, despite bringing an estimated 150 customers to their stores each month.

'This is the only free bus that will take anybody rather than just the elderly or the disabled, it's door to door and a lifeline for people who can't make two bus trips to the supermarket,' said Linda Gomez, chairman of Medway Parade Residents and Traders Association.

'It embraces the sense of community here, but nobody seems to want to spend money on the community any more ,, they want to put it into big projects.'

The Medway bus was voted for by residents who were asked to choose how the money given to the council from Tesco should be spent.

It will continue to run at 10am and 2pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until August 7, when the service will run at 10am only.

If you can help to keep it going, call Linda Gomez on 020 8998 3568.