A FEELING of sadness hung over Worcester's council chamber yesterday as the first step was taken towards selling off the city's 5,200 council homes.

Such a feeling is perfectly understandable, because the decision by councillors is another sign that the post-war aim of providing care for all the people of Britain "from the cradle to the grave" is nearing the end of the road.

Council housing, though it may now be unfashionable to say so, was a huge success, provided decent homes throughout Britain for millions of people.

We should all remember that - alongside the health service and state education - providing affordable, publicly-built homes for those who needed them most, was one of the glories of post-war Britain.

But those days are at an end. Since the early days of the Thatcher Government, councils throughout the land have been starved of the cash to either build homes, or keep those they have in a fit state of repair.

Worcester City Council now, for example, believes it would have to spend £52.4m over the next 10 years to bring its homes up to standard. Its best estimate is that it could raise only £24m towards that.

Its view is that the only way forward is to shift its homes to another landlord.

One vital issue in this process is that the council's tenants will have the final say in what happens to their homes.

We hope all 5,200 will continue to follow the debate closely, consider all the information, and make the decision which is best for them.