Tens of thousands of elderly people in more than 500 care homes were facing an uncertain future yesterday after the troubled company Southern Cross shut down.
The cash-strapped care home operator, with 752 homes and 31,000 residents, said that the landlords of 250 homes had agreed to take them back and run them themselves.
But negotiations are continuing with landlords who own the remaining 500 homes and the company admitted that it might take four or five months before homes were transferred to other operators.
David Cameron said no one would be left “on the streets” but social service chiefs admitted that some homes might have to close and residents would have to be moved to other accommodation.
There was also growing concern that many