Council bosses are set to announce the closure of a care home tomorrow in a bid to save the authority more than £1.2 million.

Despite a petition signed by more than 2,000 people in support of Ridgewood Rise in Uckfield, East Sussex County Council is expected to confirm the home will be axed.

Officers have recommended the closure following a three-month consultation in which residents said losing the home would "kill them off".

The home in High View Lane provides care for 17 permanent residents, aged between 80 and 101, along with short-term support for people recuperating after illness or surgery.

It is due to be replaced in 2010 with services provided through a private funding initiative - the £39 million Age Well project.

Ridgewood Rise was originally slated to remain open until the new building was constructed but the county council's adult social care department said closing it would save £1,257,816 over the next three years.

Ridgewood Rise was built in the early Seventies and does not meet the new Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) standards as only five bedrooms out of 39 are big enough.

But during the consultation, residents and their family members wrote of their love for the home and their "disgust" at the proposed closure.

In a report produced by Age Concern, one resident said: "If Ridgewood Rise were to close it would break my heart.

"I have been very happy here. They take us out and treat us well. I do not want it to close. When the people came here from the council, they did not have a microphone and the residents could not hear and they were confused. It is a lovely place."

Another said: "This is a brilliant place. I feel very angry. I am very happy here. It does not matter if the bedrooms are small and there are no en-suites, most of the residents need help to go to the toilet so en-suites would be useless. It is the staff that makes this place so good.

"If it closes, you will kill a lot of the residents off, they will not be able to take the change."

Another resident said: "One decent home I've found and they are thinking of closing it."

Doctors, the union Unison and Uckfield Town councillors expressed their concerns about the closure.

Uckfield councillor Paul Sparks organised the petition, signed by 2,148 people.

However, officers highlighted concerns about the maintenance of the building and "very low numbers" of people using the day centre in their report.

If closed, residents could be moved to homes as far away as Lewes, with an alternative venue for a day centre still to be confirmed.

And unless the site is deemed suitable for the Age Well project, which already has permission to build on sites at Harvard Road in Ringmer and at The Ridge West in Hastings, it will be deemed surplus to council requirements.

In his report to the cabinet Keith Hinkley, director of adult social care, said: "The actual numbers of local individuals accessing services at Ridgewood Rise is extremely low and the service has provided care for users from across the county including Hastings.

"The building restricts the quality and development of services that can be provided to the required statutory standards, and the estimated capital investment required for maintenance combined with the historical low occupancy means that Ridgewood Rise does not represent value for money."

County council cabinet members will meet to decide on the closure tomorrow at 10.30am.

Do you know someone currently at Ridgewood Rise? How will the closure affect them? Leave your comments below or call Andy Dickenson on 01273 544538.