Cash strapped Durham County Council has been attacked for selling a mothballed Victorian former nursing home "on the cheap".

The authority is facing questions over its dealings on Holmfield House in Crook which closed as part of a shake-up of residential care.

The 18-bedroomed property in its own grounds was sold by council chiefs at auction for £68,000.

It has now emerged that the former home has been placed up for sale by its new owners with a price tag of more than £150,000.

Last night John Shuttleworth, independent councillor for Weardale, accused council chiefs of taking short cuts.

He said: "This is a Victorian property in good condition and in a prominent location which was sold on the cheap.

"It went for £68,000 and is now on the market for £150,000 which is a great discrepancy."

The Northern Echo understands the property was sold to a Kettering based company called Family Housing Limited.

Agents handling its sale said they had received "quite a bit of interest" in the property which is being offered as a possible conversion into homes or flats.

Durham County Council closed Holmfield and another residential care home, Millfield House, also in Crook, last year.

It wants to avoid spending the £60m needed to upgrade its current stock of care homes to Government standards and plans a new generation of residential care facilities for the elderly.

Adding to its difficulties, it is facing a multi-million pound shortfall in its budget with council tax payers facing a hike of up to 17 per cent.

Frazer Davie, a spokesman for the council, said Holmfield had been sold at the market price.

He said: "The authority cannot retain vacant properties in the hope that in time their value may increase.

"There are significant costs involved to keep them secure and weatherproof and in our experience vandalism and deterioration can significantly reduce their value.

"As for what purchasers choose to do with the property after their sale is entirely a matter for them."

Mr Davie added that money fetched from the sale of the homes could not be used to bolster the council's revenue shortfall and went into the capital receipts budget.