ELDERLY residents being forced out of a care home face an uncertain future because the council cannot afford to pay for alternative accomodation.

Four vulnerable residents of council-run Walton House, in Chingford, have yet to find a new home. Walton House is to be closed when all residents have moved out under council plans to build a large ‘super-home’.

Jean James-Shaw who organised the petition signed by more than 3,000 people to keep it open, said she doesn’t want to send her whose 87-year-old mother, Violet Worts, to another council-run home which is due to close.

But many homes on a list compiled by the Car Quality Commission, which was circulated to residents, charge more than the weekly budget of £464 set by the council.

She said: “I’m so angry. How can they say they won’t fund us when they gave us a list. It has not been made clear until now how much they are willing to pay, after we have viewed so many several times and chosen one.”

Eric Edis, of Oak Hill, Woodford Green, said he found his 87-year-old sister, Elieen Martin, in tears because she doesn’t want to leave.

He said: “My sister is absolutely downhearted about leaving. They send us out, telling us to find an alternative and then they tell us they won’t fund it because there is an upper limit. But the limit is unreasonable.

“I went to see my sister and she was sitting in her room crying. She said ‘I don’t want to leave here. I didn’t want my friends to see me crying, so I’m sitting here crying on my own.”

The council insists that it was made clear that the authority does not have unlimited funds.

It said it has exceeded the £464 budget in order to keep a promise to provide choice for residents.

Cabinet member for health, adult and older people Cllr Liz Phillips said: “Since the council took the decision to close Walton House, we have worked hard to ensure that moves have gone smoothly.

We appreciate that all residents thought very highly of Walton House, and perhaps did not want to move.

“Taking the decision to close Walton House was not something the Council decided to do lightly. We must take decisions that enable us to provide the best possible services to people.

“Each resident has been individually assessed and moves have been carefully planned with relatives, staff and friends to minimize any potential distress. “I hope that the residents will be happy in their new homes and we will continue to ensure that all ex-residents of Walton House are having their care needs met by their new homes.”

Relatives are also concerned that the building in Chingford Mount Road will not be sold as planned because of the economic climate and it will instead be left empty or managed by a property management company at a cost to tax-payers.

These fears were prompted by the discovery that the home had costly repair work on its hot water supply and to repair a leaking roof - just weeks before the residents are due to move out.

Ms James-Shaw said: “How can they afford to do this on a building that is about to close? Most people of the relatives and elderly residents I know are absolutely devastated to be leaving, but now they are furious.”

A council spokeswoman said: “To stop spending money on essential maintenance, which is allowed for in the home’s revenue budget, would be a serious breach of our duty of care to the remaining residents. No non-essential expenditure on the property has been or will be carried out.

“Once the residents have all moved, and the home emptied of records and furnishings, the property will be declared surplus to adult social care’s requirements, and will be handed over to the council’s corporate property team who will take responsibility for site security and alternative use of the building.”

The former Edith Pearson Lodge in Leyton was sold by the council at auction last year.