An urgent plea was today made to sell-off all Essex's council-run old people's homes to the private sector.

We revealed earlier this month that the future of all Essex County Council-run homes was again uncertain because of a need to cut the social services budget for old people's care by £1.23 million.

And today a group of concerned Conservative borough councillors have banded together to urge their county council counterparts to put an end to the "unrest faced by residents and staff" and sell all the homes as going concerns.

Colchester councillor Sonia Lewis - spearheading the group - said that a report out in 1998 from an independent auditor stated that "doing nothing" with the homes was "not an option".

And she is angry that a year on, the uncertainty remains.

In a strong letter to Pat Pascoe, chairman of the county's social services committee, she said: "We urge you to sell the homes as a complete package with conditions and caveats covering the staff and the long-term future of all units, so those elderly residents can have continuity and peace of mind."

The Conservatives mooted the idea of privatisation when they took control of the county council in April 1998, but it was rejected when the Tories subsequently lost control after Thurrock and Southend became unitary authorities.

Four county council-run homes - including Marylands in Colchester and Monken Hadley in Braintree - have already been earmarked for closure, subject to a consultation period which ends in September.

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