THE WRVS has challenged potential bidders for the meals on wheels service in Bury to maintain the personal touch, as it could save lives.

The borough's £140,000-a-year community meals service has been put out to tender, following a review of the Bury Council-run service.

This could mean the WRVS, which delivers meals to customers through a team of volunteers, being replaced.

But the group says that public, private and not-for-profit service providers must do more than just deliver meals by also taking time to check on a person's welfare.

Mark Lever, of the WRVS in Bury, said: "No matter who you are, a visit to older family members or neighbours can make a real difference.

"When our volunteers deliver meals on wheels, audio books or other WRVS services, they also take the time to check the safety and wellbeing of the older person, and are able to alert local authorities to any problems. Serious health problems can be prevented by early intervention."

The charity is calling for all older people to have daily contact with another person every day by 2010.

The local authority has paid tribute to the organisation, but officers are proposing an overhaul to boost reliability and coverage.

Currently, more than 150 people rely on the service in Bury, which provides a hot two-course meal between two to seven days a week, depending on the area and customer demand.

The council hopes to provide a full five-day service across the borough within a year and to offer a seven days a week service to those who need it from next year.

The authority has been told that the WRVS, which has turned down the idea of a formal contract in the past, will tender for the work, using a mixture of paid staff and volunteers. But until the tender for the full five-day service is awarded, the WRVS will continue to help provide a Monday to Friday service covering 70 per cent of the routes, with council staff covering the rest.

The WRVS has also unveiled a new corporate identity to attract new volunteers, funders and potential partners, and service users.