A HEARTBROKEN 87-year-old woman has become sick with worry over council proposals to close down the home for the elderly in which she lives, her relatives claimed today.

Clara Crosby is a resident at Shadsworth House in Dunoon Drive, Blackburn, one of two homes Blackburn with Darwen councillors have earmarked for possible closure.

Her daughter Marjorie McCarthy says she has a doctor's certificate from Larkhill Health Centre which warns that any move would be "traumatic and distressing for her mental condition".

Mrs McCarthy has been at the centre of a campaign organised by relatives of residents who want to see the home remain open and believe there is a better case for closing down other homes in the borough.

But in recent days Clara has become ill and Mrs McCarthy says her sickness is directly related to the nerves and stress associated with the possible closure of the home, which will mean she has to move. Mrs McCarthy said: "She has been very upset and in the past few days she has been physically sick.

"Eventually she would have to move anyway, if they get their way and close this home down. But she is that bad now that we will have to move her before she gets any worse. If we waited and she had to move later it might be too much for her.

"We have chosen the Longshaw home, but she loves it at Shadsworth House and this closure has been hanging over her head for two months now.

"And the point of our campaign is that this is all so unnecessary because we think there is a better case for closing other homes in the borough rather than Shadsworth House."

Mrs McCarthy says she will send a copy of the doctor's certificate to every councillor involved in the proposed closures. The proposed closure of Shadsworth House and the Laneside Home on Dunoon Drive is part of a shake up of care services for the elderly which will save the council almost £1 million.

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 are occupied.

Councillor Sue Reid, chairman of the council's social services committee, said: "A decision to close any of our homes has not yet been reached and there is no urgency for anyone to move out.

"We cannot comment on individual circumstances of any of our residents as we must respect the nature of our relationship with them."

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