Medway Council has moved to reassure residents after care home operator Southern Cross announced it is shutting down.

The firm, which posted half-year losses of £311 million last month and owns two homes in Medway, is set to give up all of its 752 homes nationwide.

The council has said residents and staff at Frindsbury Hall, in Strood, and Copper Beeches, in Rochester, will keep their homes and jobs.

The demise of Southern Cross came after landlords rejected slashed-down rent payments.

Most landlords - including those that own the Medway homes - are set to run the homes they own themselves.

A report by Unison last month warned landlord Four Seasons, which owns Copper Beeches, was in almost as dire straits as Southern Cross.

It said: "Four Seasons avoided closure by renegotiating £600 million of debt in August 2010, giving it another two years.

"If both Southern Cross and Four Seasons were to collapse, about 1,150 nursing a residential homes would be at risk of closure, affecting nearly 50,000 vulnerable people."

A Medway Council spokesman said: "The two care homes in Medway run by Southern Cross will be transferred back to the landlords, who are themselves reputable care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission.

"We would like to reassure people that all residents and staff at the two homes will stay in their homes and jobs.

"The transition is expected to be completed by the end of October 2011."

The council funds almost 60 residents in the two homes with more than 40 others paying up to £850 a week privately.

Are you affected? Phone the newsroom on 01634 227803 or leave your comments below.