Paralysed pensioner Ivy Beck is facing homelessness because she can't afford to pay for her care.

Up to five frail and disabled pensioners may be forced out of their nursing home unless they can find almost £100 extra a month.

The home's fees have soared but the residents rely on the local authorities to fund their care. Social services said it cannot increase their allowances and the pensioners are being asked to find the extra cash themselves - or leave.

Relatives, who also cannot afford the raised charges, say there is nowhere else for them to go.

Mrs Beck, 83, suffered a huge stroke 13 years ago, leaving her paralysed, unable to speak and in need of constant care.

Now she has been told to leave the Rottingdean Nursing Home because the £345 per week she receives from Brighton and Hove Council will not cover the increased charges.

The home owner said he was forced to up the charge for care by £98.20 per month because local authority cash does not cover the rising costs of caring for pensioners under strict new Government guidelines.

Mrs Beck has needed nursing home care since 1987 when she became disabled after a stroke.

For the first ten years of her treatment, she paid her way with proceeds from the sale of her house.

Now the money has run out and she has to rely on the state to support her.

Mrs Beck's daughter-in-law Monica has been unable to find her mother-in-law a nursing home in the area which charges less than £400 per week.

She says it would be impossible to look after Mrs Beck at home because she needs 24-hour care.

Monica Beck said: "This is just a nightmare. No one seems to have any answers for us. Where is my mum supposed to go?

"I just don't know where to turn. It's not just my mother, it's hundreds of old people who must be in a similar position.

"It feels like a terrible betrayal of people just when they need help the most."

Home owner Jon Breeds said: "We are one of the few nursing homes in Brighton that have accepted people funded by the local authority, but we can no longer afford to do so.

"There are no local authority-funded nursing homes in the area, nowhere which could provide the kind of care needed by someone like Mrs Beck.

"If she cannot afford private care, she will have nowhere to go."

He said he had every sympathy for the Beck family and would not impose a deadline for Mrs Beck to leave, but that he had no alternative but to ask for more money.

Mr Breeds fears rising costs will bankrupt his business, leading to another residential care home closure in the area.

According to figures from the East Sussex Residential Care Homes Association, one home is closing in Brighton and Hove every month.

The town lost 1,200 beds for elderly and disabled people last year, leaving scores of pensioners to find new homes.

Peggy Rousell, 83, threatened to superglue herself to her chair rather than leave her home in Nyewood House, Bognor, which closes tomorrow.

New minimum standards imposed on care homes under the Government's Fit for the Future guidelines have been blamed for the rise in care home closures.

The Brighton and Hove National Care Homes Association claimed 85 per cent of homes in the area would have to close if the stringent guidelines were followed.

Mr Breeds said: "There are more and more things we need to be doing, and these things are very expensive.

I'm all for the improvements, but we need more money to make them happen."

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove Council said: "We will help any resident affected by the change to find alternative accommodation elsewhere.

"Whatever happens, Mrs Beck will not be out on the street."