Four volunteer organisations which provide a lifeline for disabled and elderly people

could be forced to shut within the next month after their National Lottery bid was turned down.

An East Sussex County Council meeting will be held today when the financial crises facing Lewes, Newhaven, Peacehaven and Telscombe Volunteer Bureaux will be discussed.

The groups co-ordinate voluntary services in the area which range from transport to hospitals, help with gardening and home visits for the elderly.

They made a joint cash bid to the lottery in December last year and were expecting to hear the outcome in March, but a decision was delayed until July.

The bid was eventually refused and by then it was too late to apply for the next round, which closed in July.

Colin Brown, director of the bureaux' umbrella group, the South Downs Council for Voluntary Service, said: "For some reason, the lottery assessor decided to put back the date and that put us in a very difficult position.

"I am not happy with the way it has been managed.

"Money from the last lottery grant ran out in March. It is fairly urgent and if no core funding comes through by the end of September, the bureaux will not be able to pay their co-ordinators.

"The bureaux place volunteers with small community groups and there will be a ripple effect if they shut.

"There will be more isolation among elderly people and a lot more pressure on the services of the health authority and social services who don't have the resources to deal with it."

The bureaux are approaching trusts, businesses and organisations for funding and have applied for another Lottery grant which will be decided in December.

Mr Brown said: "There is no guarantee it will be successful and there may have to be a break in the skeleton service until then."