A FORMER care home is to be offered for sale at auction again after it failed to sell in December.

Acorn Lodge, in Nuttall Street, Accrington, closed in November after Lancashire County Council announced plans to shut 32 care homes.

It was boarded up and the 10 remaining residents were moved to Woodlands care home in Clayton-le-Moors.

The county council is hoping to raise £350,000 by selling the 35-room property, which is what it was offered for at the previous auction.

This time however there is no "clawback" agreement, which means the county council cannot claim a portion of the future value of the property if new owners are able to secure planning permission for the site.

Local councillors and residents have called for the building to be turned into a community centre rather than be sold off but the county council has dismissed this suggestion.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "There are no plans for the county council to use the Acorn Lodge site and that is why it is still our intention to sell.

"In the meantime the property has been made secure and is being managed to ensure safety."

The auction takes place on February 22 at Manchester Airport. For more information visit www.roypugh.co.uk.