OLD people deserve a better deal from social services and the community over the provision of care homes in which they can enjoy their twilight years, according to the head of a care home association.

The comments by Frank Ursell, chief executive of the Registered Nursing Home Association, follow an independent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation which accuses social services throughout the south of being "some way off the mark" when it comes to paying a "fair price" for nursing home care.

The report says social services in Wiltshire and Hampshire are not paying anything like the true weekly rate for nursing home care for their elderly.

Mr Ursell was commenting in the wake of last week's Journal reports highlighting the plight of the elderly as more and more care homes close down.

Mr Ursell said the report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation revealed that Wiltshire pays an average of £375 a week for nursing home care and Hampshire about £382 a week.

He said: "Research by the foundation suggests that a fair price for local authorities to pay would be around £459 a week. This takes account of average wages paid to care staff, as well as other costs involved in running a nursing home."

The association, which represents nearly 1,500 homes across the UK, said many social services departments were "some way off the mark when it comes to paying a fair price".

Mr Ursell said: "The government and local authorities need to wake up to the economic realities of looking after highly dependent older people.