Relatives of pensioners facing eviction from their care home were meeting on Saturday to discuss their plan of action.

They say East Sussex County Council acted unfairly by deciding to move the eight long-stay residents from the New Moreton Centre in St Leonards.

An application for an injunction to prevent the move has been lodged at the High Court.

The legal action was brought by lawyers acting for Norma Dudley, whose 86-year-old mother Clara has been at New Moreton for seven years.

Mrs Dudley and another relative, Bob Hart, have organised a meeting at the Royal Victoria Hotel on the Marina, St Leonards, from about 11am on Saturday, December 28.

They hope a spirited campaign can be raised by relatives before the first residents are moved out of the home, in Boscobel Road, in mid-January.

The council brought forward its consultation and review period by two months. Mrs Dudley claims that left little time to make proper representations.

The council approved recommendations to move the residents out and develop the home when its Cabinet met eight days before Christmas.

Mrs Dudley said: "We want officials at the council to realise that opposition to this closure is not just from one person.

"It is a wonderful place for my mother. She is really settled there and doesn't really know what is going on.

"Had she known what has been going on, she would be mortified."

Moves to keep the pensioners at New Moreton have won favour with direct action group Residents' Action Group for the Elderly (Rage).

The group has fought care home closures across the country and has agreed to help relatives of pensioners facing eviction from New Moreton.

Relatives in St Leonards say they are prepared to go through the legal channels to thwart the closure.

They fear the stress of moving to an unfamiliar environment could kill the residents, many of whom are in their 80s and 90s.

The home is to be developed into a 30-place rehabilitation centre to ease hospital bed-blocking after the council made a successful £1 million bid for Government cash.

The Tory-run authority has said it was "concerned" to learn of the legal action because litigation over vulnerable people was rarely beneficial.

Officials have said they would be prepared to meet Mrs Dudley and her solicitor to discuss her concerns.