MOTION sensors which can detect falls are being piloted in pensioners' homes across North Yorkshire.

The devices alert care workers via a central monitoring point if an old person suffers a fall at home.

The equipment can also detect moisture if it is fitted in the home of someone who is incontinent, as well as fire, flood or gas, and can double up as an intruder alarm.

North Yorkshire County Council is one of the first local authorities to test out the ultra-sensitive sensors, dubbed telecare.

If initial trials are successful, the system could be extended across the whole county in an attempt to ensure that elderly people can live independently as long as possible.

Users would pay about £5 a week for the sensors to be monitored, but the devices, which detect any sudden movement, would probably be installed free of charge.

The council is investigating the system as pressure on care services mounts because of an ageing population.

An extra 460 over-85s a year are predicted in the county until 2020, many of them expected to be suffering from age-related conditions such as dementia.

Derek Law, the county's director of adult and community services, said the sensors would not replace human contact, but would complement existing care.

Councillor John Fort, executive member for adult and community services, said: "If and when this technology is perfected, it could clearly make a huge difference to our ability to allow people to continue to live independent lives in their own homes, while at the same time providing the necessary levels of security and safety they need."

The pilot schemes are running in Harrogate and Selby, while York City Council has expressed an interest in also adopting the technology.

On Tuesday, the county council approved a reappraisal of adult care services, which includes the use of sensor equipment.

The authority says it will also look at the possibuility of re-placing traditional care homes with Extra Care complexes, where the level of care increases with individual residents' needs. One such development opened last year at Bainbridge, in Wensleydale, with flats, a restaurant, hair salon, shop and communal lounges.