COUNCIL chiefs have promised elderly residents that they will continue to search for an alternative site for a new care home.

Residents at the Stoneleigh care home, in Barnard Castle, face the prospect of being transferred to a different home while their current home is demolished.

Durham County Council is searching for an alternative site to build an extra care unit so that residents at Stoneleigh will be able to move directly from their current home to the new apartment complex, minimising disruption.

But so far the county council has been unable to find a new site and it seems likely that the authority will be forced to demolish Stoneleigh to make way for the new unit.

The council plans to close 17 of its 25 care homes for the elderly, to make way for seven new care units which will allow residents to have more independence.

But difficulty in finding alternative sites for three care units means the council is having to close Stoneleigh, Sunningdale, in Chester-le-Street, and Moor Grange, in Spennymoor, earlier than planned.

Meetings have been held at the three care homes to give residents, carers and their families the chance to speak to council representatives about the closures, which will take place in September and October.

A spokesman for the county council said: "Ideally, we want to find alternative sites for all the homes we plan to close, so that residents can move from the existing homes into the new care units.

"We will continue to look for alternative sites, but unless we can find suitable sites we will have to close them early so that the new units will be ready by March 2004.

"We have held meetings to make residents and their families aware of the situation, and give them a chance to ask questions and get advice. We will help to find residents temporary accommodation while the new units are built."