THE first of Durham County Council's new breed of residential care homes for old people is open in Crook.

Nineteen people from Holmfield and Millfield have moved into the £2.2m Southfield Lodge 'extra care' development, in South End Villas, which, says the council, is the 'shape of things to come' for future care of the elderly.

Residents live in 37 wheelchair-friendly flats where they can retain their independence and privacy but have 24-hour support around them.

They have a choice of assisted bathroom facilities and have their own lounge and kitchen area but can eat in the building's own restaurant, drink in the bar and visit a hairdressing salon, laundry, shop, medical room and library.

State-of-the-art detectors automatically alert staff if a resident has fallen and an 'intelligent monitoring system' can be adapted to individual needs. People can also shop on the Internet in a computer suite.

The council views the development as a key aspect of its current proposals for a major overhaul of its residential services.

Over the next three years it aims to replace 17 existing homes with a range of new services including five more developments like Southfield Lodge. Holmfield and Millfield are the first to be mothballed under the programme.

Coun Christine Smith, the council's lead member for social services, said the proposals, if implemented, would produce a model for the rest of the country to follow.

She said: "The development of places like Southfield Lodge, together with a range of community-based preventive and rehabilitative services, will enable more older people to live independently for longer - often in their own homes - with better support services to help them do it.

"It is an extra level of care provision between existing sheltered housing and a full blown residential home.

"It combines all the benefits of a residential home with all the benefits of independent living and provides us with a level of intermediate care, which the current system does not."

More than 1,000 people in Shildon have signed a petition objecting to the closure of the town's Hackworth House home. Town councillors were due to meet Durham County Council on Tuesday night