Anger erupted after a plan to privatise an old people's home threatened with closure was announced by Bradford Council.

Shocked campaigners left yesterday's Council Executive Meeting pledging to fight on after the proposal that social services should look at transferring Meadowcroft at Bowling to the independent sector.

An amendment to privatise - put together behind closed doors during a ten-minute adjournment and supported by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats - was voted through.

But campaigner Sally Firth today warned: "We shall fight to the bitter end."

The Council's Labour members had proposed a plan to keep the home open rather than review its future after 18 months.

After the meeting, Councillor Kris Hopkins (Con, Worth Valley) said privatisation could be one way of safeguarding the home's future.

"Keeping the home open is the key issue here and it's about how we facilitate that," he said. "The residents and families want it to stay there and this is one way of providing that."

He added that if a transfer to the private sector went ahead, the Council would make sure that current residents could remain at the home.

But he would not be drawn on who would meet any additional costs.

"What I would like to see is no change to those people in these homes," he said.

"There will be a change of ownership but the room they are in and the care and other provisions will be maintained and increas-ed."

But campaigners vowed the fight would go on to prevent the privatisation.

Campaigner Sally Firth said: "This is the last thing we wanted for Meadowcroft. Bradford should be proud that people want their relatives to stay in Council care.

"There has been no mention of privatisation at any stage of the consultation process so far, then it is suddenly announced like this.

"We shall fight to the bitter end."

Councillor Dave Green (Lab, Odsal) told the meeting: "What the Conservatives and Liberal democrats have done is ignore all the recommendations and have come up with proposals which have not been considered at all."

But Coun Hopkins said: "There have been 75 meetings with different groups, there is massive evidence which the Scrutiny Committee received with a whole range of ideas. This proposal is not new."

The plan to privatise Meadowcroft was announced along with another plan to look at building a new centre on the site at Greenacres in Clayton.

Coun Green added: "There seems to be a lack of understanding and these amendments make things worse. Families wanted these homes to stay open and they wanted to stay in local authority care."

Both Woodward Court at Thornton and Broadstones at Holme Wood escaped the chop in the sweeping social services changes.

The decision of the Executive will now go before the full Council for a final decision.