At a meeting on Wednesday, the latest offer brokered by the Scottish Executive was accepted by Scottish Care, the organisation which represents about 800 care home owners.

Under the offer, homes will receive �406 per week per person for nursing care and �346 for residential care.

Part of the deal will see the establishment of a working group to produce a framework for reviewing the cost of care in future years .

The home owners had originally said that the offer was not enough and they had threatened to terminate their contracts with local authorities.

They said Scottish Care members would only accept new admissions at rates which are about �50 per person per week more than was offered.

The private homes pointed to a report by the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation which concluded nursing care would cost �459 per person per week while residential care would cost �400.