COUNCIL officials are to press ahead with plans to use open land in Darlington for new care homes, despite objections from people living near one of the sites.

Last year, Darlington Borough Council identified four pieces of land which it wanted to make available for companies to build residential care homes for the elderly.

The four sites have been chosen to provide new homes to ease the shortage of residential care in the town, which has resulted in many old people having extended stays in hospital.

The sites are at Hutton Avenue, Eastbourne Road, Yarm Road and Hundens Park.

But people living in Hutton Avenue have written to the council objecting to the proposal.

They say the 3.170 square metres of land in their area is a valuable green space and should not be developed when other brownfield sites are available in the town.

One resident said: "The site is used by children in the area to play on and, if it is built upon, the children will have to move closer to the river to play. The land is also prone to flooding, because it is very close to the River Skerne."

The residents have expressed concern about the impact that a care home would have on property values.

They are also angry that the council has announced plans to close its existing care homes, but is now attempting to build new ones.

A spokesman for the council said the new care homes would be privately built and all the authority was doing was identifying possible sites for the development.

He said: "The site's contribution to the locality in terms of visual relief, openness and greenery is very limited.

"The Hutton Avenue site does not contribute to facilities for organised sport and is not understood to have any nature conservation or wildlife interest.

"There is an abundance of open grassland suited to children's play in the locality and the loss of this particular site is not significant."

The spokesman concluded that none of the objections warranted the site being kept as open space.

Council officers have recommended that the council put up the Hutton Avenue site for development.