TWO councillors who launched a hunger strike at the headquarters of the authority they serve over the treatment of vulnerable elderly residents say they have made positive strides towards resolving the issues.

Councillor John Clark said the third day of his "extreme action" with Independent Richmond member Councillor Stuart Parsons outside County Hall, in Northallerton, had seen North Yorkshire County Council, North Yorkshire Police, a clinical commissioning group and the Care Quality Commission agree to hold a meeting.

He said Cllr Parsons was set to end his hunger strike, due to a health condition, but had made significant steps in the case of a 75-year-old Richmond woman who had been reduced to living on £30 a week due to the council's processes.

Cllr Clark, of Cropton, near Pickering, said despite fasting for 72 hours he remained determined to continue his action until the case he had been inspired by, that of a 90-year-old nursing home resident who had been mistreated for three years, was resolved by the public bodies working together.

The North York Moors farmer said: "Things have massively changed from where we were on Monday, when we launched the hunger strike. All the senior bodies that I was complaining about not working together are coming together."

The councillors, who have been members of North Yorkshire councils for a total of 48 years, said the cases they were protesting about were "just the tip of the iceberg" and that there could be hundreds of other vulnerable people in the county who had not been able to raise their cases.

They said they would eventually like to see sweeping changes in the way vulnerable people were dealt with.

Liberal member Cllr Clark said: "We can't change structures of that size in three days."