CARE home workers are rallying together to pursue legal action against Darlington Borough Council, over claims it mismanaged their redundancies.

Social services chiefs said last night they were rethinking the situation and could come up with a solution by next week.

Workers from the council's two remaining elderly care homes, The Lawns and Westfields, met council chiefs and union officials on Thursday to express their disgust at their treatment by bosses.

The homes are due to close by August 17, but care workers are still not clear about their futures.

Nine employees, all of whom are over 50, have been offered posts in home care, but if they do not take the jobs, they cannot claim their redundancy payment.

They say younger members of staff, who wanted to be re-employed, have been made redundant, and nine older workers have been re-employed, when they wanted to retire.

More than 60 employees were given a 90-day notice period earlier this year, but they were then told they would have to work until this month.

The older workers, many of whom do not drive, are worried about walking from home to home in the dark when they start their new jobs.

One worker, who did not want to be named, said: "There's only one of us that drives and has a car, and we are worried about our personal safety in home care.

"For a start we'll be wondering around the streets, and secondly, it's less secure going out to an elderly person's home on your own. You could get accused of anything, and you've got no witnesses.

"Plus, at the moment, we are told never to lift the clients on our own, but in home care we will have to do that all the time.

"We seem to have no option but to take these jobs, because if we don't, we will be left with nothing."

Unison representatives from the homes said they would be taking the council to employment tribunals.

A council spokesman said: "Following the meeting this week the situation is under serious review."