DISABLED campaigners will lay a wreath in London today as they mourn the end of the independent living fund (ILF) in an “emotional” day of protest.

ILF recipients will be joined by activists and supporters as they hand in a petition signed by more than 25,000 people standing against the closure of the fund by the Tory government.

The group will assemble at Downing Street before laying a wreath honouring the benefit at the feet of a Whitehall statue.

Disabled People Against Cuts spokeswoman Paula Peters told the Star the day was very “emotional and that will be reflected in the protest.

“We want choices to live independently and closing the ILF is a travesty.

“It’s stopping us from being independent in the community.

“A lot of disabled people out there, many of the ILF recipients, are working, living very productive lives and are facing a very bleak future.”

The fund provides vital financial support to disabled people so that they can cover costs such as paying full-time carers.

The closure of the ILF by the Department for Work and Pensions will pass the responsibility for these costs on to local council budgets.

Ms Peters said she was worried as “the money given to the local authorities is not ring-fenced and only a third of councils in England are actually protecting the ILF.

“They are going to cut care packages and we just had our Carelink, which is the emergency support we get at home, cut.

“They are cutting 70 hours of night-time care so it’s a multitude of cuts that everybody’s facing.”