Patients have pledged to fight service changes as a Westcountry wheelchair and prosthetics centre loses more than half its funding.

Plymouth Disablement Services Centre faces an uncertain future, as NHS Cornwall has decided to end its contract with the facility in early 2011.

Run by NHS Plymouth, the centre caters for thousands of people in South West Devon and Cornwall who need artificial limbs, joint support, specialist seating and wheelchairs.

As about 60 per cent of them live in Cornwall, termination of the contract will lead to an equivalent drop in funding.

Patients in Plymouth and as far away as Penzance in West Cornwall fear the "faultless" service will be damaged.

NHS chiefs in the city have said services will still be available for people in Plymouth, although they will have to be provided in a different way – perhaps through a private contractor.

Double amputee Ray Robins, 54, of Beacon Park, Plymouth, said: "The patients I've spoken to are absolutely horrified that Cornwall are going to try and go it alone.

"If they are going to pull out and give their patients a better service, that would be fine.

"But it's surely impossible to set up a service in eight months to rival Plymouth's – it's a faultless facility. We want to fight to keep the Plymouth centre as it is, with all of the expertise and skills it possesses for the benefit of people in Devon and Cornwall."

Mr Robins, a businessman, regularly visits the centre, in Derriford, Plymouth, as he has two artificial limbs. He lost his legs above the knees at five, due to childhood illness.

Bob Burnard, 55, of Praa Sands, near Penzance, has been travelling to the centre since he lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident in 1972.

He said: "We'd all like to have a facility closer to home but if it doesn't provide the skills, knowledge and experience that they do in Plymouth then what's the point? It's a fantastic service. I'm a great believer in going to where the skills are and believe it's better to have them in one place."

The centre has 6,000 orthotics patients, 1,000 prosthetic patients and 4,700 wheelchair users on its books.

A letter to patients from NHS Plymouth states: "At this current time the future service provision for Plymouth and Devon patients remains uncertain. There is a small range of possible options for the future, which we need to explore and consider if they will deliver the services needed for our residents."

Elaine Fitzsimmons, deputy director of development for NHS Plymouth, which commissions the city's health services, said: "Because of the size of [NHS Cornwall's] contract, 60 per cent of the total, it will no longer be viable to provider these services in the current way. "I would like to assure people in Plymouth the service they receive will continue and we are considering the best way of doing this."

A number of options are being explored, including private contractors or other NHS services.