OLDER people living at a housing association complex in a village near Devizes fear they could die in their own homes as they will not be able to afford new charges for medical alarms.

Until now tenants of The Croft in Urchfont have had the price of the medical emergency alarms included in their rent but now Aster has written to them saying a separate service charge is to be levied from this month.

This has has caused distress for pensioners Melvin and Rose Rigg who are worried about finding the extra which for some tenants is more than £20 a month. Mrs Rigg, who suffers from arthritis and diabetes, wears the alarm around her neck whenever her husband goes out.

She said: "I have had to use it a couple of times when I have had a fall. I just press the red button and it goes straight through to a call centre via the telephone. They would then contact my husband. If they were unable to get through to him they would send a paramedic."

The couple are even more concerned about an elderly neighbour who lives on her own. The grandmother aged 89 had to use her alarm last month when she got tangled in the cord of a blind.

The 89-year-old was wearing her alarm and Mr Rigg, who is one of her emergency contacts, was alerted and went to her home. He said: "I had to cut her free. If she had not had the alarm she could have been there for days in distress or even died as she has no relatives living nearby."

The elderly tenant said: "I have lived here for 40 years. I have had a few falls. I am trying to find out what it is all about and if I have to pay."

Another neighbour Roger Matthews, 75, said he had signed up for the alarm system after another man at The Croft who did not have an alarm was found dead at home last year.

But now he is considering giving up the alarm because of the cost. In a letter to Mr Matthews Aster said: "We have recently conducted an internal audit and identified you are not paying for the services you currently receive from Aster Living."

The letter told him he would have to pay £20.28 a month from April 1 for the lease and monitoring of the Telecare alarm.

Tenants in another Aster development at Hedges House in West Lavington are also upset about a big increase to their heating charge and other extra payments.

Judy Daniel and others are outraged that Aster wants them to pay an increase of up to 300 per cent on their oil heating charge. The tenants have all received letters detailing new service charges which show different levels of payment. For one her weekly charge will go from £8.18 a week to £25.64 per week.

They are also outraged that they are expected to pay for materials used to clean a communal sitting room, kitchen and bathroom. Each of the 20 tenants will have to pay £1.80 a week making a total cost of cleaning materials £36 a week.

One resident said: "It is completely mad. We pay for the actual cleaning separately. This huge amount is just for the cleaning materials."

A spokesman for Aster said with regard to The Croft: "The dispersed alarms service has previously been provided for free. However, we’re no longer able to provide this service without a charge."

In connection with Hedges House the spokesman said: "We’ve been liaising with customers regarding an increase in their heating charges due to the heating costs for 2014/15 being higher than anticipated."

"Hedges House has an oil-powered heating system and costs can vary due to fluctuating oil prices. The deficit will be made up in their service charges for 2016/17."