ABOUT 30 carers at a residential home for people with learning disabilities have been told it is to close later this summer.

The Abbey Care Home at Hawhurst Castle in Cranbrook Road, Hawkhurst, will shut down on August 14. Irene Brown, the acting manager, said she and her colleagues were upset for the 32 residents.

Abbey Nursing Homes, the Devon-based company which runs the home, said new Government regulations intended to improve conditions for patients had made it uneconomic to continue and they had decided to re-develop the site for housing.

Some of the residents and the 30 staff may be able to transfer to another home run by the company at Buxted in Sussex. It will be up to the social service departments of the local authorities that placed patients at Hawkhurst - which include several London boroughs - to find homes for the rest.

The company is hoping to re-design the castle to provide nine terraced homes and to build a further 14 houses in the grounds, though it has yet to submit a planning application.

It is holding a public meeting at the Queen's Inn in Rye Road, Hawkhurst, on Wednesday (June 19) from 4pm to 6pm to explain its plans to the village.

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