A COUNCIL is facing legal action after reaffirming controversial plans to close an old people's home.

The national group Rage (Relatives' Action Group for the Elderly) is poised to seek a High Court injunction to prevent Durham County Council shutting the Stoneleigh home, at Barnard Castle.

It is one of 17 homes closing as part of a programme the council says will modernise care of the elderly, with some new accommodation built.

The council's cabinet decided to press on with the programme - some homes are already being demolished - after an independent inquiry rejected complaints from relatives of Stoneleigh residents about the consultation and decision-making process.

But it did uphold the relatives' complaint that the council failed to consider information about residents' rights under Article Eight of the Human Rights Act - a person's right to respect for their home.

The council said the issue arose from a court ruling nine months after the closure decision. Council leader Ken Manton said it was "more a matter of procedure than substance" and would not have affected the outcome.

David Deacon, of the Stoneleigh relatives' action group, which sought Rage's help, said: "We expected the council's decision.

"Mark Oley, national advocate for Rage, will seek an injunction and it will be on the grounds of human rights.

"It will only be over the closure of Stoneleigh, but if the council lost, it would leave other relatives action groups free to take action.

"The whole thing is a sorry mess and the old people have been forgotten in all of it.''

The cabinet heard that eight of Stoneleigh's 41 residents had been relocated.

Legal services director Andrew North said: "As far as we are aware, residents who have been moved are happy with the way things have been done and the way the alternative placements have worked out.''

Councillor Joe Armstrong, a scrutiny committee member, said: "We were impressed with the way social services were managing this task with sensitivity and the best interests of the old people at heart.

"I find it a bit bizarre that we are supposed to be infringing people's rights. Officers have acted correctly at all times."