RESIDENTS and campaigners have been left in limbo after a decision by Thurrock Council Cabinet to delay a decision on the future of Elizabeth House care home.

Controversy has dogged the council since it first mooted plans to close the home several months ago as it did not meet government guidelines for care and could not easily or cost-effectively be upgraded.

Although council cabinet members attended a meeting at the care home in Stifford Clays last week it was expected that a proposal to close the home would be rubber-stamped at last week's meeting.

Cabinet members were given a detailed report on the home and the alternatives to closure - which would cost upwards of £3m and would still require residents to leave their home for up to two years.

However, despite the recommendation by their officers, councillors decided to defer a decision until a meeting later this month.

Though council officers submitted detailed costings for rebuilding the home, councillors want further structural investigations at the site.

They also want to investigate the status of the new private home in Grays that will be open in several months, to which the elderly residents were expected to be transferred.

Several other concerns were raised at the meeting, and a decision was made that more time was needed to consider the number of complex issues involved.

Though the deferment was good news to David Atkins of Residents Action Group for the Elderly, he said before the meeting that he was angered by the officers' recommendation for closure.

"I'm utterly appalled. It's in total contrast to what coun Pearse and Zena Deayton said at the meeting of residents two days earlier. It's a further example of the council not being honest."

The u-turn caught most observers on the hop, though Labour spokesman for Stifford Clays Gerard Rice said: "We always suspected consultations on Elizabeth House were a complete sham. The Tories only ever had one plan - to close home and sell off the site to the highest bidder.

"Their actions have been despicable."

Thurrock MP Andrew Mackinlay said: "It seems to me that this has always been more about cuts rather than the best interests of these vulnerable old-folk which should of course be paramount and will not be served should Elizabeth House close."