Campaigners are calling for a change in a law that prevents many Scots victims of dementia from making simple decisions like buying a new pair of shoes.

The outdated law means that Alzheimer's victims whose financial and legal affairs have been handed over to a court-appointed curator cannot make even basic day-to-day decisions for themselves.

As a major Scottish conference on the degenerative illness opens in Glasgow today, urgent reforms to the current law are being called for. Campaigners want the Government to introduce more flexibility so that sufferers do not lose control of all their financial affairs because they need help with a major enterprise such as selling a home or business.

Lawyer David McClements, a key speaker at today's conference, explained: ''At present the law is black and white and it needs to be changed.

''If you are diagnosed as suffering from dementia and need help with a major financial or legal decision then you are seen as needing help with all these kinds of decisions.

''The law says that you can either make decisions or you can't and there is no grey area in between. Just because someone with dementia needs help with selling major assets doesn't mean they can't go out and choose and buy clothes.

''But the law doesn't allow for that. They have to go through their curator. He or she takes over and basically reduces the person's decision-making to nil, which is not helpful for the sufferer.''

According to Alzheimer's Scotland there are 60,000 Scots with the incurable illness, which destroys brain cells and affects the memory, and 12,000 new cases every year.

When their decision-making abilities become impaired, many have a curator appointed for them by the courts under the Judicial Factors Act, which dates back to the sixteenth century and was last revised in the 1920s.

Campaigners are lobbying the Government to introduce a new law based on a report and draft Bill, Incapable Adults, which was issued by the Scottish Law Commission in 1995.

They claim it would get rid of the ''all or nothing'' concept by introducing reforms to allow sufferers to handle the less complex aspects of their affairs.

Mr McClements, a partner in Russel and Aitken, based in Denny, near Stirling, said: ''From a legal point of view there is concern that the law is so rigid and takes away people's power to spend their own money.

''There was a case, for example, where the curator refused to hand over the money to a sufferer who wanted to buy a new piece of furniture because they didn't think it was suitable.

''There is no opportunity for the law to be discharged unless the person dies, which isn't much use, or they recover, which is not an option with Alzheimer's.''

Ms Jan Killeen of Alzheimer's Scotland Action on Dementia - which backs the Incapable Adults Bill - said: ''The current laws governing the way decisions are taken for adults with an incapacity due to dementia or a head injury are outdated and inappropriate.

''The proposed new Bill will provide a more modern framework for making decisions and make sure people have as much independence as possible.''

She added: ''It is distressing for sufferers to feel so powerless when they have no control over their money. It doesn't do them any good because they lose self- esteem and become withdrawn.''

Today's conference, organised by Alzheimer's Scotland, marks the start of Dementia Awareness Week. It is the first Scottish conference on the needs of people in the early stages of dementia. More than 200 professionals and carers are expected to attend.