A transport service which acts as a lifeline to the community has been awarded £21,450 to replace one of its ageing fleet of vehicles.

Keighley’s Dial-a-Ride has been gifted the cash from the Gannett Foundation, the charitable arm of the company which owns the Keighley News. The news was announced to volunteers at its base off Kensington Street, Keighley, this week.

The foundation has paid out £250,000 in this latest round of awards and Dial-a-Ride has received one of the highest amounts.

It comes as the organisation is about to increase its Monday to Friday service and run two vehicles on Wednesdays.

The new VW Caddy Life, which has special access for a wheelchair, will replace a ten-year-old Renault Kangoo.

Brian Hudson, chairman of Keighley Community Transport, which oversees the Dial-a-Ride service, said: “This is tremendous news. We are truly gobsmacked. It’s funded by Social Services and we are very grateful to them but we are always about £6,000 a year light. So replacing a vehicle can be a headache.”

He added: “This money comes at just the right time. Demand has been increasing and our two drivers are each to work three days, overlapping on Wednesdays.

“This generous award is also recognition of the hard work of our volunteers and the importance of the service to the community.”

Dial-a-Ride’s other vehicle, a Toyota Hiace, had been with the service just a couple of months after the vehicle it replaced was damaged at the back by a lorry and written-off.

Stephen Shorten, Dial-a-Ride transport organiser, said the service was available to people who were frail or suffered an illness and who could not use normal transport. About 50 per cent were people who used wheelchairs.