HAVING been involved with the action group against the closure of the care homes for the elderly, I wonder what planet County Coun Chris Cheetham and the county council are on.

We started the 'consultation' period by getting emphatic statements from County Councillors Doreen Pollitt and Hazel Harding that the proposals had been made because the county council could not afford to bring the homes up to the standard required. Although they had not had any complaints about the present standards from residents or relatives.

Every meeting we attended we were told the same thing: "Our hands are tied. We have to bring the homes up to the Care Act standards, which were compulsory and there was no alternative!"

After many weeks of the public showing opposition with marches, thousands of petitions and media reports and so on, the decision to close the homes went ahead -- as we expected from the start.

Suddenly, Health Minister Alan Milburn changes his mind and says that the Care Act is only a guide and not mandatory -- so now we have an alternative.

Now, Coun Cheetham changes his stance and tells us that the decision is made because he believes that this is what people want, but doesn't show us any evidence of that.

Now there is an alternative and you can only have a consultation period when there is more than one alternative maybe, Coun Cheetham should start again and listen to the people who put him and his colleagues who are robbing the elderly of their dignity, in office and then maybe they will forgive them at the next elections.

B M JOYCE, Coal Clough Lane, Burnley.