THE closure of a nursing home could be delayed because an independent investigation has been launched.

Action group members fighting to save Stoneleigh, in Barnard Castle, have been told their complaints will be heard.

The group, called Rage (Relatives Action Group for the Elderly), has been at loggerheads with Durham County Council since the authority announced plans to shut 17 of its 25 nursing homes as part of an £18m modernisation programme.

The council hopes to replace them with five extra care schemes modelled on the £2.2m Southfield Lodge, which has opened in Crook.

Stoneleigh was due to close in 2004, but the closure date was brought forward after the county council was unable to find anywhere in Teesdale to build a nursing home other than the Stoneleigh site.

The council is now pressing ahead with plans to close the home at the end of next month.

But relatives are hoping an independent investigation by solicitor David Fruin could, at the least, delay the closure.

A group spokesman said: "Until the complaint has been fully investigated and a report presented and considered by the council and or the scrutiny committee, Stoneleigh cannot be closed.''

The investigation will be held on Friday, August 30, when records at Durham County Council Social Services will be scrutinised.

Complainants will also be interviewed about the consultation and closure process.

The group said people in Teesdale are still requesting residential and respite care in Stoneleigh and if the closure still goes ahead next month, there will be 43 fewer places in the area for vulnerable elderly people requiring high dependency care.

The group wanted to ensure that services in County Durham were able to meet different levels of need, and not just for those who could still live with a degree of independence.

"It is hoped that the outcome of the investigation will help to bring this about,' he said.