A worker at an old people's home earmarked for closure said today that staff would rather be made redundant than move to another home.

The woman, who does not wish to be named, works at Marylands, Shrub End Road, Colchester.

The home could close if proposals put forward as part of a county council review of 36 homes are approved.

In the latest review by Essex County Council, three homes in north Essex could close including Scarletts in Recreation Road, Colchester, and Marylands. A further two could also be shut, although other uses are being explored.

The proposals unveiled yesterday also include leasing ten homes to the private sector and leasing or refurbishing another two. The remaining 19 would stay under county council control.

A final decision will be made in the autumn.

The Marylands worker said morale had been low since last year when proposals were put forward to privatise 33 homes. These were later dropped.

She said she was angry to find out about the latest proposals from her neighbour.

She said: "I was absolutely shocked. Apparently it was leaked out and we did have a meeting that afternoon but by then it was too late. Some of the staff don't want new jobs. They have been here for many years and would like to be offered redundancy.

"I feel that I don't want to go to another home and work - but if we could take our residents with us that would be wonderful."

Some of the 22 staff have worked at homes which were closed in the past, including Silver Birches, Stanway.

She added: "It is the residents we feel sorry for, we are upset for them. It is hard enough to move at 16, 18 or 20 let along when you are 90."

The Blackthorns centre in Dooley Road, Halstead, could also be farmed out to the private sector. It would still be owned by Essex County Council but run by an outside company.

And there are fears that the Warrens day care centre - also in Dooley Road - could be forced to split from Blackthorns.

County councillor Joe Pike, who last year led the Conservative bid to privatise 33 care homes across Essex, said the Lib-Lab council leadership was facing up to the same cash problems as the Conservatives.

"They said they would never sell the homes. Now within weeks of regaining control of the county council they do exactly the same as we were doing," he said.

However, he said there was little option as they struggled to balance the books.

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