An 86-year-old Skipton woman says she is living in fear after being left without her daily home visits.

Dorothy Rigby had her twice-a-day home visits cancelled by North Yorkshire County Council two weeks ago following her annual review.

Now, Mrs Rigby, who cannot walk unaided and leaves the house only for doctors or hospital appointments, fears she could fall and be left undiscovered in her house.

“I’ve been trembling all over since they told me,” she said. “I’ll never forget the lady who came to see me closing the door and thinking, well, that’s it then.”

Mrs Rigby worked for local councils all her life and was employed by North Yorkshire County Council when she retired at 62.

She is visited every day by her son, John, who does her shopping, and weekly by her 82-year-old brother, Arthur.

But for the last three-and-a-half years, she has also been visited twice a day by the county council’s personal care at home team, in the morning and in the late evening, to make sure everything is all right.

The visits started after she had spent 18 months in a nursing home in Sutton, recovering from an illness.

“They said to me at the time that it was important that someone came to see me to make sure everything was all right and now they’re taking it away,” she said.

Mrs Rigby believes her robust answers at her review resulted in her carers being withdrawn “I think I’m my own worst enemy. When they did my assessment I did say I didn’t think the care workers did a lot, but that was not what I meant. I do like to do a lot of things for myself and the important thing was that they were there to make sure I was all right in the morning and that I’d got up,” she said.

The person who carried out her review also noted that her mobility had improved – although she has a stairlift fitted in her home and has a zimmer frame.

Now, she is hoping the council will review her case again. “I don’t want to go into a home again, I just want someone to come and make sure I’m all right in the morning,” she said.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said they did not comment on individual cases.