A shortage of care home places for elderly people in Brighton and Hove is nearing crisis point.

Three private care homes in Brighton and Hove are in the process of closing down and a question mark hangs over a fourth.

The closures are principally due to a cash shortage and the cost of meeting the Government's new mational standards, which have to be in place by April.

At a meeting of the East Sussex Residential Care Homes Association last night, members admitted they were "frightened to death" by the new legislation.

Brighton and Hove Council's social care boss, Allan Bowman, said his department was already having difficulty placing elderly people in homes.

He said: "We are having difficulty finding places in nursing homes and sometimes even domiciliary care.

"As for residential care, we are having difficulties finding the right residential care in the right part of Brighton and Hove for people. If it continues we could reach a degree of crisis."

One woman described how she had already been forced to shut her home due to lack of funds, only to see Brighton and Hove City Council pay extra fees for patients when it had to relocate them.

Susan Wallace, a member of the East Sussex National Care Homes Association, said: "The national standards alone are not the problem.

"Many businesses simply cannot afford to implement all the changes by April 2002. As a result more and more care homes are shutting down and vulnerable people, the ones we are supposed to be caring for, are being pushed from pillar to post."

Mrs Wallace said with care home owners receiving higher fees from privately funded patients, the situation might be reached where no one would be able to afford to take those funded by the local authority.

At the moment there are 1,437 registered places at private care homes across the city.

However seven per cent of the rooms currently being occupied by elderly residents do not meet the new minimum standards.

Between a third and half of the city's care homes fail to meet at least some of the standards set by the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) - for example, they do not have a lift, fireguards on radiators or enough power points in rooms.

The homes are also being required to provide expensive training for their staff.

Many owners in Brighton and Hove are so worried about trying to meet the new standards they are choosing to cash in on the booming housing market instead and selling their properties.

Unusually, Brighton and Hove has a diminishing elderly population but they are becoming increasingly frail and dependent on higher levels of care.

Mr Bowman told members of the association that he was already over budget and shared their funding problems.

He added: "The housing boom shows no sign of slowing down and this is also causing us problems.

"I have social workers living in bed and breakfast accommodation provided by the city council because they have been evicted from their rented accommodation and cannot afford to re-establish themselves in the property market."