A LANCASTER woman must find more than £200 a month to pay for the care of her 91-year-old grandfather - or move him up to 100 miles from home.

The private sector care home where Theresa Burzacki's grandfather, Leslie Wheeldon, has lived for the past four years, is to close this week.

However, the county council in his native Derbyshire has refused to fund the full cost of his placement at a nursing home in Lancaster and offered him a place at a home in its area.

That left Theresa struggling to find £54 a week or moving Leslie to an area where he has no remaining friends or relatives.

Theresa said: "The choice was, either grandad returns to Derbyshire or I pay the difference - something that I will struggle to do as I have a young family to support.

It makes me feel very angry and very sad that elderly people can be treated like this and there is no thought or feeling about their needs.

It is all about money.

"I'm the only family he has, apart from his sister who lives in Somerset.

He has been living here for four years, so why should he move back to Derbyshire where no-one will be able to visit him?"

Eventually, after five weeks of discussions with Derbyshire Social Services, Theresa moved Leslie to a home in Lancaster, but admits that finding the money is going to be difficult.

Despite being given six weeks notice - two more than the statutory minimum - by the care home, she was only able to tell her grandfather what would happen three days before he moved.

A group of North Lancashire nursing homes is currently in dispute with social services over rates paid for care.

The homes claim that the amount of money made available to them is inadequate to provide suitable care.

Meanwhile, Lancashire County Council has until Friday to respond to a legal action raised by the Lancashire Care Association and 11 elderly people living in private care.