BBC TV's Watchdog will this week look into the case of three elderly residents who died shortly after being moved from a closed Rossendale nursing home.

Sixteen residents and staff at Rowell Grange Nursing Home in Woodlea Road, Waterfoot, were given just 48 hours notice of closure after a planned £135,000 sale fell through late last year.

But the hurried move of residents was condemned by Burnley Community Health Council chairman Frank Clifford who warned of the dangers of the upset -- a warning tragically borne out when three residents died within weeks of the move.

Coun Clifford will appear on the Watchdog programme which investigates problems surrounding nursing homes.

He said today: "I believe Lancashire County Council was culpable in these premature deaths because they aided and abetted in people leaving the home hurriedly.

"Both they and East Lancashire Health Authority should have insisted on a three months period for the move -- time to allow each patient to be assessed and re-located safely."

Rowell Grange had been in the hands of receivers KPMG Corporate Recovery for two years.

The firm said it had consulted with the county's social services about the closure and advised them to move residents before Christmas.

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