ELDERLY residents are refusing to be moved from their sheltered housing complex amid fears that it is being axed.

People living in Rosemont in Bramhope say Leeds City Council has decided to shut the complex - depriving them of their homes and leaving the village without any social sheltered housing.

They are now planning to challenge any closure and they are asking villagers to help them save their homes by signing a petition.

Residents had believed the council was planning to refurbish and modernise the flats and they say they feel misled and betrayed by a planned closure.

But this week a senior councillors denied that any decision had been made and said the potential options were still being weighed up.

Councillor Peter Gruen, Executive member for Neighbourhoods, Planning and Personnel said: "I would like to stress that no decision has yet been made on the future of Rosemont sheltered housing complex, therefore there is no ‘decision’ to reverse at this stage.

"I am arranging to meet with senior colleagues to weigh up the potential options before a decision is made."

The council is being condemned by Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland who says he is appalled by its "unacceptable" behaviour.

He claims a decision has been made based on a report which is riddled with inaccuracies, and he said residents feel very strongly that the authority has not been honest with them during consultations.

He said: "I am extremely concerned at the way in which this matter has been handled, and from the evidence it seems apparent that the council have been working toward this closure, whilst attempting to assure residents that their views would be taken into account.

"I am calling on the Council to reverse their decision and they must now begin planning to refurbish Rosemont Flats as has been discussed for the last four years."

Jack Thrush, a resident at Rosemont, said: "We feel very let down by the Council and their consultation process. We do not accept this decision and do not think the decision has been taken properly as it is based on false premises.

“We are standing up to the Council and saying we do not accept their decision. Closing Rosemont would mean us losing our home and Bramhope losing its sheltered accommodation.

"The support we have already received from the Bramhope community has been fantastic and we hope everyone signs the petition to save our home."

Local councillors are also backing the elderly residents in their fight to stay where they are. Bramhope Parish Council chairman Denis Johnson, said: "Bramhope and Carlton Parish Council has not been consulted about any proposed closure of the Rosemont Flats complex which provides sheltered housing for up to 26 residents on Breary Lane, Bramhope. The Parish Council has raised the low levels of occupancy and the freeze on new tenants in recent years but had been given the impression that the complex is outdated because of the lack of individual bathroom facilities. "The Parish Council understood that the flats were being emptied to allow the complex to be upgraded and that new residents would then be sought.

The Parish Council is concerned that villagers may have been denied a place in the flats on false grounds when in fact acceptable units were available."

Adel and Wharfedale councillor Barry Anderson said moving residents would not be in their long term interests and that they had made it clear they wanted to stay.

"The residents have developed both friendship groups in the flats themselves, but also with the wider Bramhope Community, this would be lost if they were moved. The other potential locations they could be moved could mean that they would be separated from current friends and neighbours," he said.

"No amount of financial compensation will replace the effect of uprooting the residents from their current surroundings."

Leeds City Council says the future of Rosemont has been under consideration for some time because of significant issues with the layout and design of the complex.

It says key issues with the flats include a lack of individual bathing facilities, small kitchens and a lack of level access. They say demand for properties in Bramhope is lower than for properties in the surrounding areas.

It says a range of options for its future have been explored in detail.