A CAMPAIGN against plans to reduce care home beds across Carlisle has been backed by 1,300 people.

The Carlisle Socialist Party has been collecting signatures in the city centre for the past four weeks.

It comes after Cumbria County Council announced that three homes in the city – Elizabeth Welsh House in Harraby, Langrigg House in Morton and Petteril House, Old Harraby – are to close.

The authority says they are in poor condition and are under-occupied. It instead wants to build a home in the city, but with about half the number of beds, reducing them from 117 spread across the three homes to 60 in the new £6m facility.

But the party believes the reduction in beds would have a huge impact on elderly people in Carlisle needing care. Members claim it is already difficult to find a care home place either for permanent residents or respite care. They say the plans are a cost-cutting measure and are calling on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to intervene, saying the county council’s ruling Labour and Liberal Democrat alliance are going against his anti-austerity policies.

The group will be in the city centre again this Saturday for a final day before handing the petitions in to the authority, which is currently running a public consultation about its plans.

Brent Kennedy, from the socialist group, said: “We’ve had an excellent response so far. We’ve had conversations with 1,300 local people who have given personal examples of how they and their families are being affected by all of this.

“It shows a real anger against the politicians and their unnecessary cuts.”