An old soldier, aged 87, who spent five years as a German prisoner in Poland during World War II, this week faced a demand of £604 per month from Cornwall Social Services. The man, who has asked not to be named, lives in a Liskeard bungalow with his 85-year-old wife, and says the drastic rise from £85 per month amounts to 'gross unfairness.' He says he has no choice but to pay the bill because he and his wife are both very sick and need the daily visits from carers who, he says, do an outstanding job . It allows them to stay in their own home, and he is grateful for that, even though he continues to do his best to look after his wife when the carers are not there. He says the situation has been forced on them because they have managed to save a little over the £20,000 limit set down by the government, although if they had nothing the state would pay. He says the only visit by Social Services officials was to inquire into their financial means, and there was no apology for what was about to happen to them. The World War II veteran says that by cashing in a policy the extra £519 a month demanded can be met 'for about a year', but after that he is not sure how he will pay. He has a war pension, and he and his wife receive other benefits, but nothing like enough to cover them as a result of the new carer crisis. 'We fought for justice during the war, but where is the justice in this?' he asks. He points out that 'scores of other people in South East Cornwall' must find themselves in a similar dilemma because they chose to be thrifty while they were still working. Indeed Mrs Evelyn Scott Brown of Trevelmond wrote to the Cornish Times two weeks ago protesting that as a disabled person she faced a Social Services charge of £200 a week instead of the previous £77. The old soldier confesses that he is not particularly politically minded, and comes from a generation where protest was often frowned upon. Yet, he says, at a time when a General Election date has just been announced he believes the time could be right for some kind of action, although he is not sure what. Cornwall County Council's executive reluctantly agreed to the increase for domiciliary care in February, but wrote to the Government expressing their anger at being forced to introduce the rise. Councillors were told that new Government guidelines had forced all local authorities to reconsider the way they charged for home care. In Cornwall this has meant changing from a very simple system of charging based on an individual's income with a banded set of charges, to much more complex financial arrangements with a maximum charge. Mike Nicholls, the executive member for Social Care and Health, said he was very angry at being forced to make the decision, adding: 'No one wants to increase charges for services, but we have no choice. 'Since the Fairer Charging system was introduced in 200l we have been able to keep charges down, but now we are being forced to come into line with other authorities.'