THE report which will determine the future of Lancashire's care homes will be handed to councillors tomorrow after months of consultation.

And opponents of the scheme,which could see 35 of the county's 48 care homes close, have warned the fight is not over.

The final report into the decision has been compiled and will be handed to Lancashire County councillors by head of social services Chris Cheetham.

The recommendations will then be go before a cabinet meeting on August 1 with a final decision expected in September.

The council said the closure of the homes, 19 of which are in East Lancashire, to save £14.5million in repairs and refurbishment.

But the plans have brought storms of protests from councillors and members of the public.

And the Mayor of Burnley, Coun Gordon Birtwistle said he was prepared to put his term of office on the line to keep the fight alive.

As mayor, councillors are supposed to abstain from political activity. But Coun Birtwistle is prepared to fight.

He said: "I cannot emphasise enough the effect these closures would have. If the plans go ahead to close them then our fight will start again.

"If the council thinks it has seen a fight already, it hasn't seen anything yet. In Burnley we will not accept that they will be closed, it's as simple as that.

"As mayor I should be non-political but keeping these homes open is far more important."

Coun Birtwistle was instrumental in organising a march along with the Lancashire Evening Telegraph in opposition of the plans, something he would be eager to repeat.

He said: "We will have bigger marches and other things planned, which I won't go into yet. We are still urging councillors to reconsider and will continue to push them."

A county council spokesman said the consultation period was now over and the report had been compiled.