Cuerden Grange: care home in Bamber Bridge tight-lipped over claims it will shut next month

Relatives of elderly people living at £3,500 a month Cuerden Grange in Station Road claim they have been told they must find alternative accommodation for their loved ones by November 21.

The daughter of one 87-year-old said: "I've been told Mum has to be out of there in just over a month.

"She has been there for the last 10 years and I don't know how she is going to react when I tell her. I'm just gobsmacked."

The move comes seven years after Cuerden Grange Nursing Home next door closed down after a damning report from the care watchdog. It resulted in 33 residents having to be relocated.

When the Post approached Cuerden Grange Residential Home a spokesperson said: "We are not giving a statement about that information."

Shirley Carter estimates her family has spent in excess of £300,000 on care fees while mum Beryl Carter has been living there. She had to sell her parents' dream retirement bungalow in Prestatyn, North Wales to foot the bill.

When the closure bombshell dropped she claims she was given only a matter of weeks to find an alternative care home.

"I just got a phone call to say there is a deadline of November 21. The person who called me said it was for 'financial reasons.' That was it.

"Mum has been very happy at Cuerden Grange and she will be devastated when we she finds out she will have to move."

Beryl went into Cuerden Grange – rated “good” by the Care Quality Commission – a decade ago after suffering a massive stroke. She is unable to speak and cannot read nor write.

"Over the years dementia has taken over so she is quite disabled," explained Shirley.

"She doesn't respond well to change. It freaked her out when they moved her from downstairs, where she had access to the garden, to an upstairs room.

"I've been told by a member of staff that Lancashire County Council are refusing to increase their funding in line with inflation and so they don't have any alternative but to shut it down.

"But the rumour mill down there is saying they are closing it so they can expand their unit Cedar Lodge, which is now downstairs, to upstairs. So the residents have to go. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle.

"A lot of other relatives are in the same boat as we are. If what we've been told is true - that it's financial - then other homes will be in the same boat too. How are we all going to find good accommodation for our relatives in this area?

"I'm very upset because that has been Mum’s home for the past 10 years. I've not told her anything yet until I know for sure she has to move out.

"She may not understand, although my worry is she will get it and won't be able to cope with moving away from a place where she has loved living."

Lancashire County Council has been approached for a comment.