A GRAYS care home could face closure after it was announced that it will fail to meet Government standards in just three years time.

Elizabeth House, on Long Lane, Stifford Clays, will no longer be appropriate for residents to live in, or for staff to work in by 2008, Thurrock Council's cabinet heard last week.

Any closure would leave the council the task of re-locating the 40 residents of the home plus the job of finding alternative work for their carers.

The council will now embark on an extensive consultation into the future of the home with Zena Deayton, head of social care for adult services, insisting no decision has yet been made on what will happen to the house.

"Our foremost priority is the welfare of the people living at Elizabeth House and our staff," she said. "Unfortunately the building no longer meets the requirements for providing this type of care, and we have no option but to look at the most suitable alternative care arrangements for the residents and for the future of the staff respectively."

The news has been greeted with concern by both staff and residents at Elizabeth House who fear their home is certain to close.

One member of staff, who asked not to be named said: "We all feel for the residents, I've spoken to a lot of the families and they are all up in arms about it.

"A lot of them have lived in the home for up to 25 years and they don't want to move they've been here so long.

"The staff as well are worried because we don't know what's going to happen about our jobs."

The council's cabinet heard last Wednesday (September 14) that Elizabeth House is no longer suitable for providing modern-day services.

It will not meet the required Government registration standards that will be required from 2008, and the building does not meet the long-term needs of the residential care market locally.

The report to Cabinet said: "The building is no longer appropriate for residents to live in, or for staff to work in.

"In particular the fabric of the building, unit lay-out, size of rooms and amenities are no longer suitable for their purpose and it is not viable to make the necessary changes to the existing building."