TRAGIC mum Brenda Rowley is outraged that Health Minister Alan Milburn has named Salford as one of the best 15 social services authorities in the country.

The Astley mother, whose disabled son drowned in a foaming jacuzzi at his Eccles care home in 1998, is furious about the accolade.

She is so incensed that she has written to Mr Milburn, Prime Minister Tony Blair, shadow health secretary Anne Widdecombe and Terry Lewis MP outlining the circumstances of 30-year-old Malcolm's death and the trauma she was put through fighting for justice for her son.

In the letter Brenda, of Whimbrel Road, Astley, says that Malcolm had the physical abilities of a four-month-old infant and although he could not sit up, walk, use his hands, had no speech and suffered from epilepsy, his carer left him unattended, lying flat on his back in a bath while she went for a drink.

He was later found dead under the water.

Although she had to wait three years for a written apology Brenda is still battling for a private manslaughter prosecution.

In her letter she asks: "Is this the level of care we can expect from one of the better authorities?"

She adds: "It is barely conceivable that after such an appalling state of affairs Salford Social Services appointed an expert to prepare a report.

"This cleared Salford of any neglect and they then dismissed Malcolm's death as an unfortunate accident."

An inquest jury overturned the conclusions of the report and returned a verdict of accidental death to which neglect contributed.