A HUSBAND who "rescued" his wife of 55 years from a care home so they could be together is the "best person" to look after her, her former carer said today.

And the care worker who did not want to be named said Lancashire County Council's legal move to take 88-year-old Maria Cramp back to a home was "disgusting".

Mrs Cramp, who suffers from dementia, was taken out of The Hollies nursing and residential home, Church Street, Clayton-le-Moors, by her war veteran husband Dennis, 80, last Wednesday.

But less than 12 hours later the council secured a "guardianship" court order giving them legal possession of her for two weeks and she was taken from her home in Maudsley Street, Accrington.

Bosses said this was needed because they were in the best position to care for her.

The situation has ignited a debate about when councils should step in to demand they look after someone.

The carer, who works for a care agency used by the county council, who visited Mrs Cramp daily for eight months last year, said: "I think Mr Cramp is still the best person to care for her.

"He absolutely adored her. We would be in there for an hour every morning and the rest of the time it was Dennis who looked after her.

"He worshipped the ground she walked on and never wanted her to go anywhere in the first place.

"I don't know why the council are doing this. It is terrible, it's disgusting. "

She admitted Mrs Cramp's condition might have deteriorated since she last saw her but said: "He needs a little bit of help but I really do feel he is more than capable of looking after her."

Today Mr Cramp said the carer's comments backed his view that he was the best person to look after his wife, who spent three months in The Hollies after breaking her hip and suffering a stroke in December.

The ex-paratrooper, who fought in the 1944 battle of Arnhem in Holland, said: "She will only have any satisfaction from her life if she is at home.

"I have no complaints about The Hollies but I think she is worse than she was before she first went into the home."

Yet he said he was "optimistic" he could overturn the court order, which would see him arrested if he broke it.

A council spokeswoman said: "We have an obligation to protect vulnerable people who do not have the mental capacity to make an informed decision as to how their care needs should be met.

"In situations where a family wishes to remove a vulnerable person from care, and the professionals responsible for providing care feel that the individual's health and well being is at serious risk, we may have no other option but to apply for a Guardianship Order which would prevent someone from being removed.

"This is always a last resort."