SIX more county council care homes are to be sold off after social services bosses decided they didn't need them.

Councillors will this week approve plans to sell six of the 16 care homes which they originally promised to retain and use for elderly care services.

The move was today blasted by the campaigners who battled to stop the shake-up of Lancashire County Council's care homes provision back in 2002.

The authority decided to slash the number of homes it operates from 48 to 16 and build one new super home.

Of the 32 to shut, 16 were originally earmarked for future development providing new types of care for elderly people - such as day centres or very sheltered housing, which provides independence but with specialist help.

The other 16 homes were to be sold off and that process has already begun.

Now six of the homes on the list for alternative uses are to be added to the 'for sale' list, while two of the homes originally on the 'for sale' list have been taken off the market.

The six homes now for sale include Walverdene in Nelson, Charnley Fold in Bamber Bridge, Peterfield House in Penwortham, Ainsdale House in Preston and Worsley House in Fleetwood.

A report to Coun Chris Cheetham, cabinet member for adult services, from Joe Slater, the man behind the care home closure plan, reports that investigations into possible other uses for all six homes showed they would be of little use.

In the case of Walverdene, Mr Slater said the home should be sold with some or all of the money made being spent in the Nelson area for improving old person care.

The three homes in South Ribble also fail to serve any obvious other use for elderly services. At the same time, details of the use of another six of the retained homes has been confirmed.

Brookville in Whitworth, Coniston House, Chorley, Ebor House in Burnley, Hill Top in Accrington, Moor Platt in Caton and Wheatley Court in Fence will all be used to develop 'extra care housing.'

But Lynne Atkinson, who led one of the campaigns against the closures and whose mother is a resident at Hill Top, said: "They keep moving the goalposts and changing their minds about things so really at the end of the day nothing they do surprises us."