RESIDENTS have been urged to have their say on plans to close 35 of Lancashire's 48 residential care homes for the elderly.

An official public meeting is being held tonight at Accrington Town Hall about the closures, which have caused widespread anger.

Four are set to close in Hyndburn, with only one in Clayton-le-Moors to stay open.

County Hall bosses hoped to have allayed some fears local people had after announcing that no one living in county-run homes will be forced into the private sector because of the plan. Last week, Council leader Hazel Harding pledged that the homes closure programme would be tailored around existing residents, ensuring no one will be forced to leave county care unless they want to.

The county faces a £14.5million bill to bring its homes up to national standards and refurbish them. They had hoped to use the money saved by the closures on creating more home care services for old people. Now, however, Coun Harding wants local MPs to lobby Government for extra cash to enable her to build a new OAP home which will allow residents to move around, emptying older homes which can either be sold off and the money pumped back into services or redeveloped for use in the future.

A final decision will be made in June. The number of homes closed could change.

Council leader Hazel Harding said: "Nothing is set in stone. If people have other viable suggestions, we want to hear them.

"We are listening to what people have said to us and one of their biggest concerns seemed to be about what would happen to people in the homes.

"We have pledged that they will not be moved into the private sector. We need to change the service because people do not want to go into care homes unless they really have to. We have an aging population and we want the services to be there which means people can keep their independence in their own homes for as long as possible."

Leading the opposition campaign Coun David Whipp, leader of the Liberal Democrats said: "It's important we keep on fighting. They have already backed down a bit and we need to keep going. People need to turn up at these meetings and make their feelings known.

The meeting at Accrington Town Hall takes place at 6pm.

Other meetings are scheduled for:

Pendle: March 20 at 7pm, Nelson Marsden Centre;

South Ribble: March 21 at 2pm, Borough Council offices, Leyland;

Burnley: March 21 at 7.30pm, Burnley Temple Street Day Centre ;

Chorley: April 10 at 3pm, Chorley Town Hall;

Rossendale: April 11 at 7pm, Haslingden Oakenhead Centre;

Ribble Valley: May 3 at 2pm, Ribble Valley Council offices, Clitheroe.

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