LANCASHIRE County Council's decision to earmark 19 old people's homes for closure is to be raised in Parliament.

The move by concerned MPs came as one local council claimed the decision to axe the homes could prompt it to bid for unitary status.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice is one of several from the area applying to hold a special House of Commons debate to discuss the crisis caused by the announcement which he said has "generated tremendous anxiety."

He is seeking further information from the local authority on the proposals which it put out to consultation last week.

A final decision on the plan to cut the number of county council residential homes for the elderly is pencilled in for July. The existing 48 will be cut to just 13 -- one per borough council area -- with six left in East Lancashire.

The proposal has worried residents and their families and also angered unions, who say they are faced with hundreds of job losses.

The plan would save the county money and help it bring the remaining homes up to new government standards but it also says cash will be used to enable more elderly people to be cared for in their own homes.

Now Jack Wilson, Labour leader of Chorley, has said the homes issue has brought back into the spotlight the issue over whether the borough should become a unitary authority, like Blackburn with Darwen.

Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle is also opposing the plans. And Labour backbencher Mr Prentice said: "I have applied for a one and a half hour adjournment debate in the Commons to raise this issue with a Minister.

"I know some of my Lancashire colleagues are doing the same to try and ensure we get the chance to discuss it.

"I am asking the county council for the consultation paper and for more information so I can study the plans in detail.

"These proposals have generated tremendous anxiety.

"Many elderly people and their relatives must have been shattered by this announcement and with all the uncertainty, I will want to examine in great detail the proposals and their supposed justification.

"All other things being equal, I want to see elderly people properly supported and living in the community. "In Denmark, for example, there is no institutional care for elderly people at all.

"Those who need help are supported in sheltered housing with round the clock care -- and that costs money.

"Here in Britain, we have different set up and we can't simply close residential homes without considering the consequences for the individual residents and the possible knock-on effects throughout the system.

"At a time when the Government is putting more money into the NHS it would be crazy to have very elderly people bed blocking wards because there is nowhere else for them to go." Mr Hoyle said: "I don't find it acceptable and want the county council to reconsider."

In his constituency, two homes are earmarked for closure.

Coun Wilson said: "We would love to go unitary. This is another blow for district and borough councils.

"Most of the country is run by a single local government.

"Questions need to be asked. Is the county council too large and unresponsive and would a smaller unitary government be more suitable for Chorley's needs?"

County Councillor Don Yates, who represents Chorley East, said: "I am surprised and disappointed that the borough council has taken this stance over the care homes.

"They have been consulted in partnership with us and were informed two to three months ago that this was going ahead."