SOCIAL services bosses have sounded the death knell for Croich Hey old folk's home.

As revealed two weeks ago in the Bury Times the Hawkshaw home will almost certainly bite the dust as officers battle a financial crisis.

The news was greeted with anger and dismay by staff, a dozen of whom turned up to hear councillors seal the "idyllic" home's future at a special meeting on Tuesday .

Now they are threatening to launch a petition and get Bury's MPs on their side in the fight to save the home.

While the proposal has to be put out for consultation, the home will only survive if something extraordinary comes to light to make councillors change their minds.

David Ashworth, social services director, said a final decision will be made before Christmas. "Uncertainty has surrounded the home for some time," he said. "The sooner the better, so people know where they stand."

The home was highlighted in a thorough review of elderly persons accommodation in the borough.

This showed that Bury had too many council and private homes and not enough sheltered housing or domiciliary care.

Mr Ashworth said it was unfortunate that the report arrived when social services and the council were facing severe financial problems.

Croich Hey has been targeted because it is one of three of the council's 10 homes not yet to be refurbished to new registration standards.

At up to £269 per resident per week, the home is the most expensive to run. Small with just 16 places, Croich Hey doesn't have a lift, en-suite facilities or the other mod cons that its rivals have.

And council leaders say they simply don't have the money left - estimated at a quarter of a million pounds - to refurbish it.

Coun Costello said: "In an ideal world the other nine council homes should be able to carry this idyllic home, but the reality is that they cannot do that.

"We know this will cause distress, but the council has very little money indeed and we are obliged by law to make the best use of the money we have."

Labour members passed a motion saying that, because of financial difficulties and the accommodation review, they were prepared to consider the closure of Croich Hey.

Should the home be closed after consultation, some of the savings would be ploughed back into alternative provision.

The Tories' sole member, Coun Roy Walker, voted against and said it was a desirable place to live.

"I hope you will consider transferring it to a trust or housing association where we still have an interest," he said.

Coun Costello promised staff that they would be redeployed, and guaranteed residents a place in another local authority home.

But after the meeting, Mrs Helen Sampson, care assistant at the home for the last three years, spoke for many when she said she was disgusted.

"It's a beautiful home and our residents love it," she said.

"The posh homes don't want people with Alzheimer's disease," she added. "We give them the love and security they need."

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