TWO homes for the elderly in Blackburn have been emptied and closed under a sham consultation period, furious relatives claimed today.

People with family members in Shadsworth House in Dunoon Drive and Laneside Home, Shorrock Lane, claim they were told no final decisions would be taken on the two homes until the end of a consultation period.

But today it emerged that both homes are now empty, with staff called in only to do the cleaning.

Social services bosses deny claims that the homes have been closed by stealth and say every resident who has left has chosen to do so.

Campaigners who have been battling to keep Shadsworth House open were joined for a public meeting by people with links to Laneside.

Marjorie McCarthy, who has led the campaign said: "They must be laughing at us in the town hall and they must think we are thick.

"They told us there would be a consultation period before anything happened. Goodness only knows what their definition of consultation is. "Those homes are empty, so we are told, and to us that means the whole thing has been cut and dried from the very start.

"They said this whole process would be gone through with compassion. The opposite could not be more true.

"I have been told that people who have left Laneside and Shadsworth House have been told what rooms they will have when they get to their new home, rather than asked which one they want. Is that supposed to be compassionate?"

Councillor Sue Reid, chairman of the council's social services committee said no residents had been forced to move to another home.

She added: "All residents of Shadsworth House or their families, have asked to be placed elsewhere. Social services staff have worked with them to find a new home that meets their needs.

"The last resident left Shadsworth House on Friday and the home effectively closed from then on.

"Staff have been transferred to other Blackburn with Darwen homes, although there will be a security officer present at Shadsworth. "A formal decision to close Shadsworth and redeploy staff will not formally be taken until February 14.

"Several residents have also requested to be moved from Laneside and the staff have been equally supportive of their needs.

"Nine people are still living at the Mill Hill home, but they too have requested to be moved. However I must stress there is no pressure on them to move out and they will leave at their leisure with the full support and assistance of our staff.

"The residents at Shadsworth have moved into a combination of council and private sector care homes. The majority have stayed with the council and some have been placed in a home just around the corner from Shadsworth House.

"At Laneside we have even been able to help a gentleman move to be with his family in Folkestone."

The closure proposals stem from the results of a council survey which showed that only 75 per cent of places in the eight homes in the borough were occupied.

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