A HUMAN rights lawyer representing the relatives of residents of a nursing home due for closure has claimed a legal victory, despite failing to block the demolition of the building.

Yesterday, Alastair Wallace, of Tyndallwoods Solicitors, Birmingham, said that although those who campaigned against the closure of Stoneleigh, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, had withdrawn their legal challenge, they had scored a victory over Durham County Council.

The relatives had been due to clash with the county council yesterday through a judicial review in the High Court, following claims that the authority had failed to take into account the human rights of the elderly residents at the home.

Earlier this week, the council said campaigners had withdrawn their legal challenge and the home would be demolished and replaced with a new care unit. It also said it stood by its decision to close the home, but it had considered a report by an independent panel addressing the human rights issues of the six people who lived in the home.

Mr Wallace said: "Although it is somewhat of a hollow victory because ultimately we have failed to stop Stoneleigh closing, we have, I feel, won the legal battle.

"The county council has agreed to pay our legal costs and has assessed the way it has handled the human rights of residents, but as I have said, they have chosen to go ahead with its closure, which is disappointing. I think you could say we won the battle but not the war."

The council has confirmed it has not admitted failing to take into consideration the human rights of residents, but that it had double-checked it had done everything correctly when considering the future of the home.