AN URGENT appeal for help caring for the elderly in Bournemouth appears to have fallen on deaf ears.

The town's older people's champion called for more government funding - and received a round of cheers at a Town Hall meeting.

Cllr Pat Lewis' said the area cannot cope with the above-average number of older people.

She told a full council meeting the borough had 29,000 people over 65 and 5,700 over 85.

Caring for them costs £22.3 million a year - and the next 10 years will see the pressure increase as the number of over-85s, who often need far more costly care than the over-65s, goes up by 10.5 per cent.

The cabinet member for social services, Cllr Barry Goldbart, told the Daily Echo that special, ring-fenced funding was needed.

He said the complicated funding arrangements mean councils do not receive the headline funding increases the government announces.

He added: "Bournemouth has got one of the largest numbers of people over 85 but we don't seem to get the money because the money goes back up north."

A spokesman for the Department of Local Government and the Community would not answer questions on the possibility of special payments.

The spokesman said Bournemouth Council received a 2.7 per cent grant increase in this financial year and added: "The next three-year settlement will be announced by the end of this year and it is not possible for anyone to speculate on figures at this stage."

Bournemouth is still going to lobby the government.

Cllr Lewis told the town hall: "A wise person once said a society can be judged on how it cares for its frail and vulnerable people.

"I know Bournemouth is a caring council and that's why I am optimistic about the future."