A care home for severely autistic people has been criticised by inspectors for having "a poor environment".

Whitstone House in Dereham, which is run by Autism Anglia, has been rated as "requires improvement" by the Care Quality Commission, and its leadership branded "inadequate".

The home was visited by inspectors in October, with the visit sparked by the damning assessment of Lambert House in Bowthorpe, one of the charity's other sites.

The Bowthorpe home was given the lowest rating available by the CQC, prompting bosses at Autism Anglia to take the decision to close it down.

While Whitstone House did not receive the same rating, inspectors still highlighted a host of concerns.

Charity bosses have insisted there is a "clear action plan" in place to improve the living environment at the site and that it was changing its recruitment approach to reduce its reliance on agency staff.

But inspectors wrote: "People lived in a poor environment which had not taken into account their safety or promoted their dignity."

The report states the staffing issues had seen the home regularly rely on agency workers, meaning they did not have the chance to get to know the complex needs of the residents.

It reads: "We were not assured agency staff working unsupervised at night would have enough understanding or training to meet people's needs or understand how to communicate effectively as that takes time with this client group.

"A lack of provider oversight meant we could not be assured if people were treated well."

An Autism Anglia spokesman said: "We were disappointed at the findings of the recent CQC report at Whitstone House, which was previously rated good in 2019.

"We have made immediate changes to improve the service at Whitstone House.

"Clear action plans are in place to also ensure we improve the living environment as required.

"We are pleased to say that the manager has now completed their registration and we have broadened the range of training packages for our staff teams.

"We have also adapted our recruitment strategies ensuring we attract and employ additional skilled and experienced staff, which will in turn reduce the need for agency staff."