ELDERLY residents of a Southampton old folk's home facing the chop are set to be moved by December, but staff are unhappy, a city council report has revealed.

Northlands House is due to be demolished and a new joint residential and nursing home built in its place - and the difficult task of rehousing residents is under way.

Consultation reports show that on the whole residents are in favour of the development and all but one of the 24 residents are happy to move.

Staff, however, are not happy with the changes. Up to 80 per cent of workers who took part in the consultation complained they had not been kept adequately informed.

They said they had been given conflicting messages and inadequate answers to their questions during the months of uncertainty over the future of the home.

Up to 60 per cent of staff said they were concerned that residents' needs would not be met by transferring to other homes.

At tomorrow's meeting of the social services committee, councillors will be given details of the consultation and asked to agree proposals to rehouse the elderly residents.

Social services executive member Councillor Jaqui Rayment said: "This ends a long period of uncertainty surrounding North-lands House and its future. We are dedicated to maintaining the quality of life of Northlands residents and thank all the staff for their unwavering patience and dedication.

"Everyone who is affected now has a chance to express their views and that will lead us into the next stage of the process in the near future."

Northlands House, which was opened in 1949, is home to 25 permanent residents including a 104-year-old woman. The city council plans to knock down the home and hand over the site to a private developer to turn it into a £3m elderly care complex.

The new development will have residential and nursing care and will be run by the private company on behalf of the city council.

Colin Mitchell, the head of policy and programme management, said it would help meet the growing need for residential and nursing home care in the city.

As property prices rose, many owners of old folk's homes were cashing in on the property boom and selling their businesses, he said.

"When the Care In The Community Act became law in 1993, a lot of people bought up these homes as a second career," he said. "Now they are getting to the age where they want to retire - and they are selling up for redevelopment rather than selling on their businesses.".