A NEW rehabilitation unit designed to help older people return to independent living has opened its doors in Clitheroe.

The Castleford Unit based at the Castleford Home for the Elderly, Queens Road, is a six-bed unit for people aged 60 and over who are looking to return to their own home after illness or bereavement.

Castleford Home for the Elderly was saved from the axe in controversial Lancashire County Council plans to close 35 out of its 48 care homes over the coming years.

And the new unit is part of a Lancashire County Council strategy to promote respite and rehabilitation in place of long-term care.

It is aimed at elderly people who have been in hospital for such as a hip replacement and struggling to maintain themselves or take medication correctly.

It will be staffed by social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, and residents can stay for up to six weeks, followed by a further six weeks of rehabilitation in their own home. Chris Cheetham, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for Social Services, said: "The new unit is a welcome addition to services for older people in the community and will give those who have been unwell or experienced difficulty in coping the support they need to regain confidence and greater independence.

"Other units in the area have been operating for the last two years and the results have been very heartening. Over 70 per cent of people were able to return home, rather than go into residential care, which for many was the only previous option.

"This is a further development in Lancashire County Council's services to older people and offers them a wider range of services responsive to their needs."

The tender to run the unit was won by Lancashire County Care Services, Lancashire County Council's in-house care services provider.

General manager Steve Williams said: "A patient might typically be someone who has undergone a hip replacement. There is a big demand for services such as these and Castleford certainly has a future."