AN East Lancashire MP has called for the county council to rethink its care home closure programme following the sudden closure of a private nursing home.

The 17 residents of Great Harwood Lodge Residential Home were given two hours to move out of the home and into council-run homes when it was closed by government inspectors on Saturday. They were taken to nearby Northlands, and Peel Court, Oswaldtwistle, both of which have been axed by the council, with the remainder going to Woodlands, in Clayton-le-Moors.

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said the emergency transfer of residents from the home on Edward Street, Great Harwood, to county-run institutions showed the need to keep local authority facilities open.

"I'm very concerned about the sudden closure of this care home. It is an appalling example of what can happen," he said. "It must be possible to give warning. It's ironic they were transferred to local authority homes earmarked for closure. We need to keep some surplus capacity. You can't run county council homes at full capacity in case something like this happens.

"Even at this late stage I hope Lancashire will re-examine closures and come to the conclusion that what happened in Great Harwood is a strong argument for keeping some open to make sure places are available if an emergency like this happens again."

Care homes watchdog the National Care Standards Commission obtained an emergency closure order from magistrates saying the home's owners failed to remedy issues of concern despite months of warning.

Lynne Atkinson, vice chairman of Hyndburn Action Committee, said: "What guarantees are there that it won't happen again? There should be an inquiry into why they have been moved into homes earmarked for closure when they are going to be moved again in a few months.

"Why didn't they put an emergency management in? The inspectors are there to protect people, but they're not if they are moving them.

"The county council have said there are enough beds to accommodate people in the private sector, so why put them into council-run care homes? That proves our point. I'm angry."

Norman Hickey, the World War Two veteran who helped the group campaign against the closures, said: "This must have come as a shock to residents. These confused, disabled and lonely people are human beings who need support, not some commodity on the stock market.

"The private care homes do provide excellent care, and no one is denying that. But they are still a business, and they can fail, or for some other reason close down without much warning.

"Where would these residents have gone if the council care homes had been closed?"

A spokesman for the National Care Standards Commission said: "We try and work with owners to put matters right. We don't have any emergency management procedure. We have to work with the care home owners and try to get them to make the changes we are asking for. In 95 per cent of cases they do. If they don't we have to take action."

Olive Carroll, LCC's head of adult services, said: "Following the cancellation notice being served, our emergency team stepped in to safeguard the safety and welfare of residents. Although we had a matter of hours, our priority was to offer temporary measures pending a more considered approach to alternative arrangements."