THE campaign to save the French Convalescent Home was in full swing today, with people from all walks of life joining the fight to save it from the bulldozers.

Today we ask Argus readers to sign our petition calling on Bovis Retirement Homes to think again about their plans, which have devastated residents and staff.

Copies of the petition are being distributed to shops and newsagents across Sussex and are available at all Argus offices. We hope to present thousands of your signatures to the Brighton and Hove councillors who will decide the future of the home and its residents.

Bovis sparked fury when it announced it was planning to knock down the historic home and replace it with retirement flats.

The 40 staff and similar number of residents only found out about the plans when a notice was pinned to a lamppost outside the home. Celebrities, including Chris Eubank and Dame Vera Lynn, have already joined the fight.

And today writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe, who is heading the bid for city status for Brighton and Hove, gave his backing as well.

He said: "The bid for city status is based on the proposal we can grow and prosper in this town without destroying the atmosphere and eccentricities about it that we love.

"The French Convalescent Home is a wonderful building because it is a bit mad. I want Bovis to produce a development which is in tune with the town.

"It seems to me that throughout the last two years the trustees of the home have behaved with terrible insensitivity. It is outrageous."

Brighton residents gave their full backing to the campaign today.

Among those who were the first to sign the petition were Cherie Chierchie, of Upper St James Street.

She said: "It's terrible, absolutely dreadful. The poor people that live there didn't even know. That's really disgusting."

Yvonne Lane, of Wilson Avenue, said: "The old people there must look on this place as their home.

"Some of them might not understand what's going on. Where are they to go? It's awful. We're all going to be old some day."

Bob Foster, of Carn Court, said: "We should keep it open. It's an old peoples' home - that's a good enough reason."

Raymond Clark, 55, has been fighting to keep the home open for two years since he visited with a friend whose mother was staying there.

He said: "The trustees have not kept the homes' residents or their relatives informed of their plans and quite frankly it seems the residents have less than squatters' rights. Nobody pays any attention to them."

Historian and journalist Peter Avis, who is an expert on Anglo-French relations and lives in Sussex, said concerns over the homes closure had been raised at the highest level of the French government.

He said: "The Mayor of Dieppe wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hubert Vederine, to push the case and he got a matter-of-fact reply saying it was in the hands of the French ambassador."

The ambassador was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Fears are growing that residents of the home will have to leave by March next year. This gives just four months to find new homes for the 40 frail and elderly residents - some of whom are heading towards their 100th birthdays.

Bovis Homes will not confirm the timescale for vacant possession but the Argus has learned that it hopes to complete the deal by March at the latest.

This is dependent on relocating residents.

Bovis Homes spokeswoman Lorna Hornby said: "We were approached by the trustees to buy the home, not the other way around.

"Contracts were exchanged around October 10.

"We're not putting any pressure on them to vacate the building. We want there to be sufficient time for the residents to be found other places."

She would not confirm whether the time scale meant the building should be empty by March but agreed the development could not wait indefinitely.

ENGLISH HERITAGE COULD STOP THE DEMOLITION

English Heritage has vowed to look at listing the home as a matter of urgency.

An inspector is to visit the home in the near future because of the risk of demolition.

English Heritage will inform Chris Smith, at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, if it believes the building is worthy of being listed.

Mr Smith will then make the final decision.

An English Heritage spokeswoman said: "It sounds as if this case is an emergency and it will be given top priority."

Residents and staff at the home have banded together to form a residents' action committee to fight the trustees' plans.

A spokesman for the group said: "On October 2, staff and residents received written confirmation that the home was under no threat of closure for at least another 18 months.

"On November 2, members from all departments met to discuss the announcement of its imminent destruction.

"Why can't the French trustees hand over the charity that is our home to new trustees who are European and who would be able to lead us into the new millennium? One hundred years of experience and loyalty should not be demolished.

"We are a very necessary thread throughout the entire fabric of our community. A prominent concern is that without us the links that we bind across the generations would disappear. Our trustees and Bovis Retirement Homes seek to break these links."

Ewan Paterson, 34, who works at the home as a night care assistant, said: "I feel cheated. It is vitally important these places are run properly."

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