HUNDREDS of old people living in county-run care homes across East Lancashire are facing an anxious wait to hear if they will be moving within the next month.

Lancashire County Council social services boss Chris Cheetham, today revealed that a timetable for the closure of 32 homes, the renovation of a further 16 and the creation of one brand-new facility, was almost complete.

Coun Cheetham said: "We are weeks away from completing a timetable which will set out our plans. We will then go into the homes and then inform the residents of what we propose to do.

"This is a plan which will run over several years. At the same time, we are talking to GPs to make arrangements for them to visit any residents who, it is felt, may not be well enough to move.

"There is no point doing the checks now and then announcing when each home will close, because we could check someone now but not move them for 18 months and people's health can change a lot in 18 months.

"There are many of our residents who are perfectly well and will not have a problem moving, but we won't do anything which puts the health of residents in jeopardy."

It is more than a year since Lancashire County Council first mooted the idea of closing 35 of its 48 homes. Initially, it planned to move old folk into the private sector with new cases being given home help in all but the most extreme of cases.

But their plans sparked outrage across the community and led to a Lancashire Evening Telegraph-led campaign.

The backlash resulted in three homes being saved and a promise that no-one who wanted to stay in LCC care would be forced into the private sector.

High Court action against the closures by care home campaigners resulted in the county council promising not to move any resident who, it was felt, would suffer medically as a resul.

By reducing the number of people it admits into its homes, the county council plans to gradually close homes after first remodelling the 16 staying open.

Lynne Atkinson, from the Hyndburn Action Committee, one of the organisations which brought the High Court action, said: "We will be making sure they stick to their word."