A senior county councillor has warned that the authority is not in a position to fund the care that will be needed if more NHS care is moved into the community.

Beth Furneaux expressed concerns and told Labour Party members that Cumbria County Council may not be able to support the Success Regime's controversial health reforms.

Ms Furneaux, cabinet member for health and care services and also a Labour counciullor for Yewdale, was speaking at a meeting of the Penrith and the Border Constituency Labour Party.

She also criticised the "externally-imposed top-down approach".

A statement released by the Border Constituency Labour Party added: "Ms Furneaux said that county council members have expressed concerns about the plans proposed by the Success Regime.

"She expects the cabinet to make this clear in their response to the consultation. The externally imposed top-down approach has not been welcomed and assumes care in the community which the council is not in a position to fund."

Ms Furneaux, who is responsible for all adult services including care homes and home care, also claimed that central government funding cuts have meant that the local NHS is underfunded.

She said they have also forced Cumbria County Council to reduce its annual budget by a third in recent years.

The county council is not part of the Success Regime, although health bosses insist they are working closely with social care.

However the council's cabinet has yet to submit its formal response to the ongoing consultation, and Ms Furneaux is one of several senior councillors to hint that they may not support its plan.

Meanwhile Penrith Town Council has also spoken out against the Success Regime proposals, saying it "unanimously and unequivocally rejects" plans to close community hospital beds.

If it is approved, hospitals in Wigton, Alston and Maryport are set to lose all their beds, while Penrith hospital will lose four - reducing from 28 to 24. Overall numbers will drop from 133 to 104.

A formal response from the town council says that the proposals to close community hospital beds:

*Stand in direct contradiction to what we know about the ageing population, demographic and social change. Failure to plan for changing needs will not lead to savings in the medium to long term.

*Take inadequate account of the difficulties of partnership working and the length of time it will take for Integrated Care Communities to become effective.

*Leave rural areas of Cumbria, including the residents of Alston, in an unacceptable vulnerable and high-risk situation.

*Represent minimal financial savings - £0.9m, less than 0.6 per cent of total savings target - which by no means justify or offset the increased risk to the health and wellbeing of the population.

It adds: "Furthermore, the closure of 100 out of 600 acute beds at the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital will further increase pressure and demand on the community Hospital beds, as well as the unpaid carers working in their own homes."

The town council, which represents residents of Penrith and surrounding communities,