CIVIC chiefs have been threatened with legal action for cutting elderly support at two Hampshire apartment blocks.

More than 60 flats in the New Forest are set to be stripped of on-site wardens who help with social activities, day trips, exercise and more.

Council bosses say they cannot find enough residents with the appropriate needs to fill the blocks.

Yet residents as old as 102 are “very frightened” by plans to remove the cover from Riverside in Fordingbridge and Ringwood’s Quaker Court, one user said.

The son of a 91-year-old woman is considering a bid for judicial review and has launched a petition against Hampshire County Council, which says there is a lack of local demand.

Jonathan Boswell, pictured, said moving into Quaker Court has turned his mother Olive’s life around.

“My mum has really gone from 0-60,” he said. “Six weeks ago you said she was waiting to die – now she can’t wait to get up and do something with people.

“By taking such action Hampshire County Council are abandoning their responsibility to ensure the safety of such residents, leaving them vulnerable to accidents, vulnerable to persons with ill intent, and significantly more isolated and lonely.”

Mr Boswell is considering a bid for judicial review because his mother was allegedly given nine hours to apply to have her say at a decision meeting last week.

His petition has gathered more than 100 signatures in two days.

Extra Care allows older people across Hampshire to live independently with their own kitchen and bathroom but retain round-the-clock support.

Quaker Court and Riverside residents will be reassessed by the council before the contracts expire in September.

Some will rely on an emergency alarm system, while those requiring further support could be moved elsewhere.

Residents’ representative Diane Lyndon said: “A lot of residents are vulnerable. They’re apprehensive and frightened.”

A Hampshire County Council spokeswoman said Extra Care would “continue to play an important part in our overall care offer”.

She said: “For Extra Care developments to be viable, there needs to be a balanced community living there, with a good proportion of the residents requiring adult social care support.

"Despite continuous efforts to attract residents with a housing, as well as a social care need, we have found that local people are consistently choosing to stay either in their own homes, or to go straight into residential care."

“We have no plans to change the care arrangements at the other former sheltered housing developments which now have Extra Care status.”