Scores of people have taken part in protests against the charge increase

The charge is due to rise in a week, in some cases from �4 per week to �11 an hour, prompting scores of people to mount a high-profile protest.

Councillors have now agreed to carry out an assessment to determine whether users can afford the price rises.

Protest groups have condemned the study and said the introduction of charges should be delayed pending its outcome.

Councillors have also admitted that more needs to be done to make people aware of what financial help is available to them.

Strong opposition

The council's SNP/Lib Dem administration pushed through the price increases to meet a 'budget shortfall.'

But opposition has been strong and a campaign group was formed to fight the charges. Scores of members took part in the protest outside Fife Council's headquarters.

The authority's Labour leader, Alex Rowley, had urged councillors to delay the introduction of higher charges until it was known what affect it would have.

It is not going to change a thing. I don't know what will happen when the study will show the dramatic effect the charges will have Maureen Closs

Cllr Peter Grant, leader of Fife Council, said: "We realise that there is a lot of concern about the revised charges. This is partly because as a council we have not done enough to make people aware of the guarantees that are built into the scheme.

"We need to do more to reassure people that anyone who is assessed as needing a service will get it even if they can't afford the full charge.

"A lot of service users will not be asked to pay anything at all and after a full benefits assessment it's likely that many vulnerable people will actually be better off."

'Most vulnerable'

The protest Group, Campaign Against Charges, has estimated that the changes will affect 6,500 disabled and elderly people.

They have accused the authority of targeting some of the most vulnerable people in Fife to plug their funding gap and believe the introduction of charges will not be delayed.

Campaigner Maureen Closs told the BBC Scotland news website: "It will just mean that maybe [the charges] will eventually be legal.

"It is not going to change a thing. I don't know what will happen when the study will show the dramatic effect the charges will have.

"It is illegal and immoral."