There was joy and despair today for families involved in a battle to keep open four homes for elderly people.

Campaigners are almost certain to have won their fight to save Woodward Court, Allerton, and Broadstones, Holme Wood.

Council officers will recommend the executive committee next week to redevelop them as units for elderly mentally ill people, retaining respite care and day care services.

Members will be advised to give a stay of execution to Meadowcroft, Bowling, but review it again in 18 months.

But families hoping to save Greenacres, Clayton, have been dealt a blow. Officers only recommend it should stay open until the long-stay residents get the opportunity to move together to another Council home for mentally ill elderly people.

The executive will also consider a recommendation to find a partner to develop a new extra care housing scheme on the Greenacres site. The families launched a massive campaign last July at the start of a major public consultation exercise about the future of the four homes. Closure was being considered for three of them because the Council said it wanted to plough money into services which would help elderly people to be cared for in their own homes.

But campaigners said the residents would be devastated if they were forced out and there was insufficient specialist care to deal with elderly people with dementia.

Eileen Armstrong, whose 89-year-old grandmother Helen Durkin lives at Greenacres, said today: "I am really disappointed and the campaign is carrying on. They are making the people who are the most vulnerable suffer."

Maureen Anderson, a leading member of the campaign to save Broadstones, said she was very pleased with the recommendation, but added: "We will be going to the meeting of the executive next week because we want to show that we are behind the Greenacres campaign."

Councillor Dave Green, Labour executive member for social services, said: "We would want a lot more information about what is behind the recommendations, particularly with regard to Greenacres.

"We are also concerned about the time limit on Meadowcroft as there appears to be no justification and it seems to be based on a compromise. We have got a lot of questions which are unanswered."

Councillor Kris Hopkins, executive member for the community, including social services, said: "I would like to thank residents, their families and staff in the homes for their patience in these extremely difficult times."

The Council intended to devote its resources to local authority homes for elderly mentally ill people and the independent sector would continue to specialise in caring for frail, elderly people.

The mentally ill elderly people would have priority for admission to Council homes, ahead of those whose problem was physical frailty.