RESIDENTIAL care homes for the elderly should be phased out in North Yorkshire, according to a report.

Proposals being drawn up by North Yorkshire County Council include a recommendation that communal care homes be replaced with housing schemes.

The draft report, which examines the way the elderly can be cared for over the next 15 years and beyond, also recommends making use of new technology to help pensioners who want to continue living in their own homes.

It was produced to address the challenge of the county's ageing population.

Experts say the number of over-65s living in the county will have risen by 50 per cent by 2020.

The number of residents aged over-85 is calculated to have increased by 64 per cent.

Council officials have calculated that caring for the rising number of elderly people will cost an extra £43m a year.

The report says residential care homes will be replaced with extra care schemes, which allow older people to live independently in a purpose-built home with carers on hand if needed.

It states: "It is our intention to move towards a model of housing and care across North Yorkshire that is predominately based on the availability of good quality extra care housing.

"We would anticipate and plan for the gradual replacement of communal living in residential care homes to the model of housing and care."

The document says most existing care homes for the elderly will be replaced by 2011.

Council chiefs say a thriving independent care sector should be created, with private companies encouraged to build extra schemes to cater for future needs.

The report outlines research that shows that offering help and support to older people before they become dependant, can reduce or prevent the need for more costly help in the future.

It calls on the council to jointly commission services with primary care trusts and other organisations, including district authorities and voluntary groups to support the elderly in the community.

Another objective is to offer more choice and control to elderly residents over the way they are cared for.

In future, more pensioners will be given the money to source their own care, the report adds.