MORE old people's homes could be on the chopping block. Council planners have received applications to turn two private homes into flats, Hamilton Rest Home in Whitefield, and Greenlea Residential Home in Prestwich.

Campaigners who fought against the closure of the council-run Claremont home in Prestwich fear that old people will soon have to move away if they need residential care.

Mr Dave Ogden, of the campaign group CARE, said their grim prophecies were being proved correct.

"We keep asking, when all the homes have been closed down, what happens to all these old people?" he said. "There's nowhere for them to go: people will not be able to stay in the area and will have to move elsewhere."

Bury Council closed Claremont last autumn as part of a shake-up of plans to look after the elderly, and it intends to close two more of its homes. Figures show that residential homes in Prestwich have very few vacancies.

Councillors on the planning committee were last night (Thurs Feb 20) being asked to decide on the two latest applications.

Eleven residents live at the Greenlea home, in Bury Old Road, Prestwich. The application is to convert it into nine self-contained flats, with car parking spaces.

Mrs Eunice Marchant, the home's proprietor, said she was "opening her options".

She said she had already been granted permission for an extension to the home, and this new application would mean she "did not have all her eggs in one basket".

At Hamilton Rest Home, at the junction of Bury New Road and Hamilton Road in Whitefield, the application is to demolish the care home and redevelop the site to provide 12 apartments. No-one at the home was available for comment.

Town Hall bosses are aiming to raise at least £1.3 million from the sale of Claremont.

They have identified that sum as a key part of anticipated receipts in next year's capital budget.

It follows the revelation that they had submitted a planning application for residential development on the Bury New Road site.