CONTROVERSIAL plans to sell off a council-run residential home look set to be scrapped.

Officers with East Riding of Yorkshire Council are recommending a reprieve for Wold Haven, at Pocklington.

The authority decided last year the home should be sold off as a going concern in an attempt to save £150,000 a year.

But the decision sparked fierce opposition from residents, with hundreds signing protest petitions.

Now officers say in a report to the council's executive on Tuesday that no further action should be taken at this time over the proposed sale.

Instead, they recommend that the council should seek to convert office accommodation to provide an extra six places, so as to reduce unit costs and meet steadily increasing needs for such care in the area.

They say it has proved impossible to sell the home while best protecting residential care capacity in the Pocklington area, where pressures already exist.

The recommendations have been given a cautious welcome by campaigners who have fought a lengthy battle to keep the home in public ownership.

Local district councillor Hilary Saynor said: "It's excellent news, providing the executive goes along with the officers' recommendation."

Pocklington town councillor Tom Willgoss said he would be extremely pleased if the recommendation was passed by the executive, and "heartbroken" if it was overturned.

He said the home provided a good service. "There's a saying in the East Riding: 'Why mend something when it isn't broken?'"

There had been concerns that if the home was sold, there would be no guarantees that it would remain open in future.

He still had concerns that even if the executive decided not to go ahead with the sale, it might change its mind at a later date, and he would like a long-term guarantee that it will remain in public ownership.

Updated: 10:35 Saturday, March 16, 2002