A UNION is threatening to take legal action against Darlington Borough Council over the way it has treated care home staff in the run-up to the closure of the last-two public sector retirement homes in the town.

Workers met officials from the public service union Unison last night to voice their concern at treatment by social services at Darlington council, which they say amounts to discrimination.

Westfield House, in Cockerton, and the Lawns, off Yarm Road, were scheduled for closure this week.

But because the building of private-sector homes to house residents is behind schedule, staff have been told they must continue working until August.

Staff say only workers over the age of 50 have been offered new jobs within social services, despite expressing a wish to retire, whereas younger workers will be made redundant.

If the nine staff who have been offered jobs turn them down, they may not be entitled to redundancy money.

Alan Docherty, secretary of Unison's Darlington branch, said: "The council is trying to save redundancy costs by forcing jobs which staff consider unsuitable for them.

"There is a mismatch between what people want and what is available in terms of jobs.

"Management needs to improve its act and give the jobs that are available to the people that actually want those jobs. If they matched them up we would end up with a happy workforce. The management is looking over its shoulder at redundancy costs and have fixed their selection criteria on minimising the costs of redundancy.

"They have red-lined everybody over 50 to give them a job, which is nonsense when there are people in their 30s and 40s who desperately want to be re-employed."

Unison is still negotiating individual cases.

Mr Docherty said: "We are prepared to take legal action against them. We have got plenty of cause so far, but we cannot do that until people are dismissed."

A council spokesman said it was not appropriate to comment while negotiations with unions were ongoing, but denied that jobs had been offered to workers on the basis of age.

Some workers, who did not want to be named, said they were also concerned for the welfare of elderly residents with the delays in building the new homes.

One said: "They have had this move hanging over them for three years and now the date has been put back again. Our morale is very low and we are worried about it affecting the residents' morale too."