ELDERLY and vulnerable people living in Lancaster and Morecambe face a shortage of essential home care, The Citizen can reveal.

A senior manager at Lancashire Social Services has gone on the record to express concerns about his ability to provide a full service.

He says that he does not have the resources to buy domiciliary care in the Lancaster area such as health visitors and home help.

He added that he had a problem deciding where to discharge people leaving hospital if he could not afford to offer them help in their own homes.

This would have a detrimental effect in Lancaster, he warned, and could affect the health service.

The Citizen approached the county council more than a week ago to highlight these concerns but despite repeated assurances from them, no reply has been forthcoming.