ELDERLY residents in Colne's Hartley Homes are angry at the reaction they received to a collection they organised to replace rose bushes in their gardens in memory of loved ones.

Mary Payne, on behalf of residents in the homes, asked the Hartley Homes Trust if it would be possible to replace dying rose bushes in front of their houses but said she was told the Trust did not have enough funds.

She then asked other residents if they would make a contribution to the cost and they were happy to help out.

Former residents also offered donations and around £500 was raised for new bushes.

But all their efforts were in vain when they received a letter from trustee Jo Belbin which said she was not happy about the residents collecting the money and they were rushing into it.

Mrs Payne said: "We decided we would all put at least £2 into the collection and within a couple of days we'd collected £70. Former residents and relatives put in money when they heard some of the rose bushes were going to be in memory of their husbands and relatives. Mrs Payne informed Trust secretary Philip Mousdale and chairman Coun Edwina Sargeant about the collection and Mrs Sargeant offered £10 for the kitty. Other committee members also gave cash.

Mrs Payne said: "Someone from a garden centre said he would give us advice and the rose trees at a reduced price, someone else said they'd give us a cultivator free for half a day and two gardeners said they would help out."

Then the residents received the letter from Jo Belbin saying that a report about the beds had been requested from Pendle Council and that when it was brought to the Trust for action residents could make a financial contribution.

Mrs Payne said: "It didn't need discussing because we already had the money. One businessman had offered to match every £1 the residents gave. It was like a slap in the face for us and some people cried because they were that disappointed.

"We had to post all the money back and we're not going through it again now. I could have understood it if we were altering the plan of the grounds but all we wanted to do was replace the old rose bushes with new ones."

Mr Mousdale, said: "It's all been a bit unfortunate really.

"If they had come to us beforehand and said 'we would like to do this and collect money for it' the Trust would probably have said yes. We might have agreed to it but it might not have been immediately.

"The surveyor told me it wouldn't be possible to plant the rose bushes where they wanted to anyway and expect them to grow and I don't know if they appreciated that."

Coun Sergeant said: "It was very nice of the residents to do this and to have something in memory of their loved ones but all I want to say at the moment is that it will be discussed at the meeting and hopefully we will get it sorted out."