BURY Council failed to consider the basic human rights of frail and vulnerable residents before resolving to close down the old people's homes where they live, a top judge ruled.

Mr Justice Richards said residents and their families had been given "inaccurate and misleading" information before the local authority decided on July 16 to close the Warthfield and Whittaker House homes.

There had been a breach of fundamental rules of fairness and there was no evidence that the council had taken into account residents' right to "respect for their home and family lives" under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the judge ruled.

The decision means Bury Council must start the process of consulting residents and their relatives all over again, although the judge, sitting at London's High Court yesterday, conceded that a decision to close the homes was still the likely outcome.

The landmark ruling could have far-reaching implications for local authorities across the country.

The challenge was brought to court by James Madden, one of just seven remaining residents at Warthfield, who the court heard was so distressed by the prospect of closure as to sometimes be reduced to tears.

The Whittaker House residents also spear-heading the case were Anne Downs, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and has lived at the home for six years, and May Buckmore, aged 94, who is blind.

The judge said the council's letter informing residents of proposals to close down the two homes had come as "a bolt from the blue" on May 21 this year and it "would have been desirable" for residents and their relatives to have been consulted earlier.

But he rejected claims that, by that stage, the decision to close the homes had already been taken and that the council had acted "with a closed mind" thereafter.

He also dismissed allegations that the consultation process which led up to the closure decisions had been carried out in too tight a timescale.

But he ruled the May 21 letter had not given "an adequate summary" of the real reasons why the homes had been targeted for closure.

A statement in the letter relating to structural problems with the foundations of the Warthfield building had been "simply wrong" and the reasons for closure given were "inaccurate and misleading."