A care home for the elderly will be closed in the new year.

Despite a petition signed by more than 2,000 people in support of the Ridgewood Rise home in Uckfield, East Sussex County Council agreed to close it today.

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

Councillor Paul Sparks, who campaigned to save the facility, said: "We lost our case and I'm very disappointed and upset as the county council have ignored the views of so many people, including GPs.

"I think at the very least we've given them some very serious issues to consider. They will have to do some real soul searching about these final arrangements."

The home in High View Lane provides care for 17 permanent residents, aged between 80 and 101.

It 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.

A council spokeswoman said: "At the moment the closure is planned for early 2008 but it won't happen until we have made alternative arrangements for all the individuals using it."