Care homes say the rules are damaging them

They say that the body which inspects homes is to take a tougher line on homes which have not completed checks.

The checking process has been hit by massive backlogs which mean some employees have been forced to wait months before starting new jobs.

The National Care Standards Commission insists the checks are compulsory.

'Furious'

The warning over home closures was issued by the National Care Homes Association - which represents independent care home owners.

It says that it is "incredulous and furious" about new guidance published on the website of the commission on Friday.

Previously, the poor performance of the Criminal Records Bureau - set up to process the checks - meant that homes could go ahead and employ staff before their checks came through.

The latest advice says that the CRB is now working faster - and that checks must be carried out before a new employee can start work.

The criminal record search is designed to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse.

However, the NCHA says that it is making it almost impossible for many care home owners to fill certain vacancies.

People recruited into care assistant positions - which require fewer skills - were not prepared to hang around unpaid for weeks while the checks are made, it says.

"The real fear is that many more care homes will close rather than operate outside of the law," said Chairman Nadra Ahmed.

'Common sense'

He said that hundreds of homes might be tempted to shut their doors rather than continue with a "bureaucratic and time-consuming" process.

The NCHA also disputes whether the Criminal Records Bureau is getting any faster at doing its job.

It said that only last month it knew of 173 applications which had not been dealt with more than three months after they were made.

A spokesman for the National Care Standards Commission said that, regardless of withdrawal of its more relaxed "interim advice", it was still taking a "commonsense" attitude to staff employed before checks had been completed.