LEGAL advisers at a national charity believe council bosses have broken the law by axing funding for talking books.
Last year Stoke-on-Trent City Council decided to scrap the �13,600 it gives to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).
The subsidy, which will end on March 31, paid for 173 blind and partially-sighted people in Stoke-on-Trent to access 18,000 audio books, which are delivered to their homes.
The RNIB's senior legal policy officer has now written to Paul Hackney, head of legal services at the council, urging the authority to reconsider its decision.
The charity argues that by not consulting service users, the council has potentially breached the Equality Act.
Rebecca Swift, RNIB campaign officer for the Stoke-on-Trent area, said: "While we appreciate the council has to make difficult decisions, our concern is to ensure any decisions taken which affect blind and partially sighted people should be made in a lawful manner which recognises their needs and rights.
"The council has failed to consult Talking Books users before withdrawing the service and RNIB continues to believe that the decision taken by the council potentially breaches the Equality Act."
From April 1, blind and partially sighted people in the city will have to pay �82 a year to continue using the service or make do with the limited selection of audio books at the city's libraries, which can be delivered using the council's Homelink service.
But the RNIB's letter states: "For many Talking Books subscribers, the Homelink service will be inadequate.
"For example, the Homelink service does not allow people to choose their own books, it will not offer enough titles, the format and quality of the recording will cause difficulties and the service will be unable to cope with demand."
It says: "The council has failed to consult service users before withdrawing the service. The individual contact made with affected individuals was not consultation but merely informed them of the decision.
"We believe that blind and partially sighted people forced to access the council's library services through the Homelink service are being placed at a substantial disadvantage.
If blind and partially sighted people wish to access a library service which more closely approximates the service offered to sighted readers they will have to pay for it."
The charity has also demanded that the council provide its legal team with all the paperwork relating to the decision.
Karen Lamond, who started losing her sight at the age of 11, has used the Talking Books service for just over a year.
The 57-year-old, from Bucknall, said: "I wasn't consulted at all and I am very angry.
"I am sure there are other ways they can save money without targeting the disabled. The council's Homelink service is very inferior.
"Most of the time the disc is scratched and they are not necessarily put back in the wallets in the right order.
"The RNIB's library seems endless. They can get you anything and the format they use is much easier to use."
A city council spokesman said: "Unfortunately financial pressures have affected our support for the RNIB's Talking Books service, but this decision wasn't taken lightly and the equality impact of the decision was considered.
"An alternative service has been provided for residents.
"We have received legal correspondence from the RNIB. It would not be appropriate to say more at this stage while the correspondence is ongoing."
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