Residents and staff at two old people's homes in Oxford were "shell-shocked" after learning that their homes are favourites for the axe.

Oxfordshire Social Services plans to close one old people's home as part of £3.2m budget cuts this year.

As revealed in later editions of yesterday'sOxford Mail, Iffley House, in Iffley Turn, Oxford, and Oseney Court, in Botley Road, Oxford, have been named as the two old people's home most suitable for closure.

Staff and residents were last night coming to terms with the fact that their home could close down by the end of the year.

Jan Lovegrove, manager of Oseney Court - which is home to 40 people - said: "We are all a bit shell-shocked. The closure of a community resource is very sad for all the people of west Oxford - it will have knock-on effects throughout the community.

"There has never been any talk of closure before. "We are trying to cope with all the anxieties of staff and residents."

Residents at Oseney Court last night gave their reaction to the news.

Zena Robinson, 84, and Dorothy Hughes, 94, only moved to the home in 1997 after Cutteslowe Court closed and they had to find somewhere else to live.

They both said they would be very upset to have to start all over again.

Mrs Robinson said: "It is my home and I would be very sad to move. We have been most graciously and kindly received here."

Mrs Hughes added: "I have been here nearly 18 months and am very happy.

"I don't want to move."

Margaret Eddles said she would be "devastated" if the home closed as her husband, Stephen, had been one of the councillors who helped instigate its building.

The 87-year-old, who has been in the home for more than a year, said: "It is a nice home and needs nothing done to it. I don't know where I can go." Ella Shaw, 89, has been at the home for three years and three months. She said: "I am very upset. I have no family and no home to go to.

"There is nothing wrong with the home and no need for it to close down. Everything is perfect here - we have no complaints at all."

Vince Allen, 90, added: "I am quite settled here. It is a home from home and I am happy here."

Anton Schmul, 85, said: "This has been my home for 13 years. I had a struggle to get in here and don't want to move."

Social services chiefs were holding urgent meetings with staff and residents yesterday after earlier sending out letters informing them of their decision.

Managers spent a month assessing the 20 council-run old people's homes in Oxfordshire to decide which were most suitable for closure. Criteria included how well used the homes were, sale value and running costs and the estimated cost of refurbishments.

Mary Robertson, director of Oxfordshire Social Services, said: "We realise this can be a worrying time and it is important that we collect the views of everyone who wants to comment. We shall try to ensure that every resident and their family is happy with the alternative we arrange."

A final decision will not be made on which old people's home is to close until March 16.

ACTION TO EVICT GROUP

Squatters have moved into a disused old people's home.

Cutteslowe Court, in Wyatt Road, north Oxford, closed more than a year ago after county council spending cuts.

About 30 homeless people, members of the Equality Housing Co-operative, moved in to the empty building more than a week ago.

They have begun renovating the vandal-hit home and appealed to the council for a lease to allow them to stay. But Oxfordshire County Council, which owns the site, is going to court on Thursday to evict the group. It plans to convert the building into a hostel for students and nurses.

One of the squatters, Becky, 19, said: "We are all homeless people from the Oxford area and all in a position where the council has not been able to offer us housing."The housing situation in Oxford is very difficult if you are not a student - all the nice housing is reserved for the student population.

"We would like to stay here until we find somewhere to live."

Story date: Tuesday 23 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.