CARE home workers may consider strike action, it was revealed last night.

Workers from Darlington Borough Council's two remaining elderly care homes, The Lawns and Westfields, are meeting union officials from Unison today to express their disgust at treatment by their bosses.

More than 60 employees, some of whom have worked in the council's homes for more than 20 years, were given a 90-day notice period until this week, when the homes were due to close.

But they have now been told they have to work until August because new private-sector homes that are being built to house the residents are behind schedule.

Workers say the younger members of staff, who wanted to be re-employed, have been made redundant, and nine older workers have been re-employed when they wanted to retire.

Elizabeth Smith, 61, who has 29 years' service, is one of only nine to be re-employed, even though she asked to leave.

She said: "If I don't take the job I won't get the redundancy money. A lot of younger workers asked to be re-employed, but they have not been given the chance because it is cheaper to make them redundant than offer redundancy to the workers aged over 50."

A council spokesman said the 90-day period was the statutory minimum notice and workers could be asked to carry on until August.

He said it had been made clear from the start that redundancy was not an automatic right for workers, and insisted that all employees had been asked what their preferred option would be.