Pensioners have complained of being "pushed out" of their retirement flats as the council tries to cut millions of pounds spent on temporary accommodation for homeless families.

Croydon Council is set to convert homes in Gillett Road, Thornton Heath, into temporary accommodation despite almost unanimous objection from their 71 elderly tenants.

The council said the move would cut its £2.3m annual spend on costly bed-and-breakfast lodgings and stressed no tenants would be forced to leave.

But angry residents of the 11-storey sheltered accommodation block, comprised of 66 flats, accused the council of trying to edge them out.

David Sykes, 74, who has lived in Gillett Road with his wife Evelyn for more than 13 years, said: "People here are worried sick. The council are trying to push us out.

"We are all elderly people here and if you put homeless families here with kids the place is going to be wrecked within a week. It is not big enough. These are one-bed flats.

"We have people with zimmer frames, wheelchairs, crutches. There is one woman here who is over 100."

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 Evelyn-Marie and David Sykes in their Gillett Road flat

While the council insisted residents could choose to stay, a report drafted ahead of Monday's cabinet meeting shows it expects all elderly tenants to have left by 2016

The projection is partly based on the assumption current tenants will opt to leave once families move in.

Paul Phillips, secretary of Gillett, Garnett and Laxton Court Residents' Association, said: "They are claiming that if elderly residents want to move, the council will meet their expenses. 

"But the point is, when you're elderly, you don't want to move to another part of the borough because you can't start a new life so easily.

"Even if they moved to the same area, people are settled in their flats. This disruption has been forced on them."

He suggested council consultation of residents - all but one of whom opposed the changes - had been "a charade".

Mr Phillips also suggested the high-rise flat block was unfit for families with young children, and added the council's removal or wardens from the block last year had left tenants feeling less secure.

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The 11-storey Gillett Road retirement flats

Steve Reed, Croydon North MP, said the council had "got it wrong from both angles".

He said: "A lot of elderly and vulnerable people are worried that they are being pitched against families who need homes.

“This move has upset the folks that live there. People are worried that the noise there will be increased due to more families living there.

"But the main thing is families are being moved into a flat with just one bedroom. How are children and parents going to fit in?"

A Croydon Council spokesman said: "Like most local authorities, the council faces a significant increase in homelessness.

"This proposal will help the council to manage homelessness and reduce the reliance on expensive nightly paid accommodation such as bed and breakfasts.

"We are considering Gillett because it is a difficult to let high rise tower block and because we know that generally older people prefer ground floor accommodation.

"Nobody will have to move, however there are a number of suitable alternatives near to Gillett, including a twin block, which people could potentially move to.

"We will be assisting them every step of the way should they choose to move."

Croydon Council cabinet members will vote on the proposal on Monday.

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Gillett Road residents David Sykes, left, Paul Phillips and Joan Redmond