CARERS who have worked with social services whistleblower Deborah Rees have backed up her claims and say they have lost all confidence in the department.

Deb Bignell, from carers' charity, Focus, and Sarah Purnell and Bill Greenshields, from Swindon Carers Network, say it shows no genuine interest in hearing their views.

And they have grave concerns about the ability of the failing department to turn itself around in the wake of a damning Government report, known as the Joint Review.

They have spoken out days after Ms Rees told her story to the Advertiser about her five torrid years working for Swindon social services.

She claimed the department is ruled by a culture of arrogance and is not receptive to criticism of its services.

She said she felt victimised for attempting to report problems and was shunted from one job to another.

Although Ms Rees has recently been moved on from her most recent role as planning officer for learning disabilities, she still works for the council in an undefined position.

Mrs Bignell said she understood Ms Rees' concerns, as she has grown equally frustrated with social services.

She said: "Deb has been a really good planning officer and was one of the few people who understood how to work with users and carers.

"What she is saying is backed up by the Joint Review report and our own experiences."

She said the Carers Network, which Focus supports, held an urgent meeting following the third re-write of the social services department's action plan.

The plan is intended to map out how the department will improve, but Mrs Bignell says the network has lost all confidence in senior officers' ability to achieve improvement.

The group has demanded a meeting with senior councillors in the next two weeks and specifically insisted that no officers are present.

She added: "We are fed up with the spin we get from senior officers that is just transparent and we are not prepared to put up with it any more.

"We have no problem with the frontline staff they have some really good staff who are trying to do their job in very difficult circumstances."

Ms Purnell looks after her 18-year-old daughter, Caroline, who has severe learning difficulties and epilepsy.

She said: "The work Deb Rees has done in the last eight months as planning officer has been superb she has been an inspiration to carers.

"When they chose to replace her, we were very despondent we feel like we have lost something we needed desperately and we've got to try and climb that hill again. There's no doubt she has been unfairly treated."

Mr Greenshields and his wife, Doreen, from Wroughton, look after their 47-year-old son, Andrew, who has Down's Syndrome.

Mr Greenshields said: "There is supposed to be a partnership between the network and the council and that means going forward together.

"But our impression of senior managers is that they want to go forward in their own sweet way."