AN OLD people's home in Burnley which houses 20 male residents is set to be closed by Lancashire County Council in a cost-cutting move.

The plan has been slammed by Independent Burnley Ward Councillor Harry Brooks as "New Labour acting like the old Tories".

The recommendation to shut down Whiteacres, Lansdowne Close, Rosehill, and five other homes in Lancashire, has to be rubber-stamped, but further meetings of the working group which proposed the closures and will be responsible for overseeing them have already been organised.

Coun Brooks said: "I think it is sad that elderly people will be forced to move whether they want to or not.

"Everything seems to be sacrificed to the almighty pound. "The more we get to know about New Labour the more they seem like the old Tories."

The transfer of residents will be organised through discussion with families and the residents.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "Permanent staff will be found alternative positions within the county council and possibly offered further training so they can take up alternative positions.

"A working group will meet in June and August and a time scale of closure will probably be established in September."

County Coun Doreen Pollitt chairs the social services working group which recommended the move.

She said: "There is a difficult balancing act to be achieved in making greater use of the resources we have and at the same time making it possible to bring greater variety to care arrangements.

"We want to consult people who will be affected directly by any ideas for change and this will be the next step if the social services committee is happy with the working group's thinking so far."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.