At a meeting in Pall Mall yesterday, the trustees decided not to close the only British Legion home in Wales, after nine months of consultations.

However, if the home fails to break even by September 2009 British Legion bosses have said they will look to offload the premises as a going concern, safeguarding jobs.

During the last financial year the home ran at a operating loss of £156,000 according to the Royal British Legion.

The trustees had discussed a report, commissioned in October 2007, bringing together the results of nine months' worth of discussions with the local authority, Powys County Council, MPs and other parties – and, most recently, with the staff, residents and families at the home.

The report also contained recommendations from the specialist consultancy, Pinders, who were asked to undertake an independent assessment of the home

The RBL had agreed to look at other options for how to bring extra revenue into the house.

At a press conferenc today, the RBL bosses gave the news.

Michael Jones, chairman of Powys County Council, said: "As a council we welcome this, and look forward to working with you (RBL) in the future.

"It's positive news and I'm sure it will be welcomed by residents and the people of Powys."

Crosfield House is the RBL's only home in Wales, and currently looks after a number of local authority-funded residents.

The RBL is currently facing a deficit of £500,000, and has requested more funding from Powys County Council.

However, the authority voted against more financial support for the home at a meeting of the board a fortnight ago.

Residents, relatives and staff were informed of the outcome in a series of private meetings today (Friday.

* Updates to this story will be available as and when we have them.