GP ANDREW Murrison, the Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Westbury, has voiced worries about a possible winter beds crisis in local nursing homes and hospitals.

He claims that new regulations introduced by the new Care Standards Act had made it impossible for many nursing homes to carry on.

He said, "Early signs suggest the NHS is in for a very tough winter. If there are not enough nursing home places people will be unable to move from hospital.

"Already we're seeing the trolleys lining up in the region's hospital corridors and the winter hasn't yet begun in earnest."

Last year more than 15,000 beds were lost and 760 care homes closed in the UK.

Ray Jones, Wiltshire's Director of Social Services, said: "Nationally there's an increasing concern about the number of homes closing."

"The issue in Wiltshire is not so much home closures. It is that there is an increasing demand for funding which is outstripping the monies available."

Mr Jones stressed that current government policy is to focus on care at home and rehabilitation to free up existing beds rather than attempting to provide more and more places.

He added that many nursing home owners were finding that more profit could be made by selling up than by keeping their homes running.