REGARDING the proposed closure of homes for the elderly, my much-loved 89-year-old mother, Ivy Booth, died 'unexpectedly' a matter of days after being forced to move out of St Emmanuel's residential home, Blackburn, due to its closure in February, 2000.

This had been home to my mother for nearly 10 years. I was given less than 24 hours' notice to find her suitable alternative accommodation.

You can imagine how distressing this was for me as only a few months previously, I had spent eight weeks desperately trying to find a person with a suitable home for one of my four dogs, which is now in Cheshire, enjoying life with her lovely new 'mum.'

Yes, dogs 'can' adapt and be happy if a suitable home is found, Sadly, this is not the case with the majority of elderly people who need the same routine, faces that are familiar and surroundings that they know.

Do the people responsible for these closures not know this, or do they just not care?

How many more of our loved ones have to die before something gets done, or is this a plot to rid our country of the elderly, who fought for it?

SUE EVANS, French Road, Blackburn.