Six specialist dementia nurses will be recruited across Norfolk after health chiefs agreed a £300,000 deal with a national charity.

The news comes six months after the only admiral nurse scheme in the county was scrapped by South Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which said it needed to make savings.

But that CCG, including Norwich CCG and North Norfolk CCG, will invest £50,000 towards new admiral nurses - with pound-for-pound matched funding being added by Dementia UK.

And local fundraising groups have also pledged to raise cash towards the nurses.

Admiral nurses offer specialist support to families affected by dementia with the most complex needs.

The six nurses will be funded for two years.

Zena Aldrige, regional admiral nurse at Dementia UK, said she was 'really pleased'.

'We will be working with the CCGs and other key stakeholders, including service-users, over the next two years to ensure that an effective service is delivered.'

She said the parties would work to find a way of enabling the long-term future of the nurses.

Dr Liz Waddy, South Norfolk CCG's dementia lead, said: 'The service is small in scale at this stage, however we have had fruitful conversations with community groups who say they would be prepared to raise further money if necessary.'

Meanwhile Norwich CCG is building its new admiral nursing service as part of a three-pronged scheme to help families.

The other initiatives involve making more funding available for dementia support workers who can help people with less complex needs, and integrating dementia staff with the advice and advocacy services in Norwich.

The same approach will be taken in North Norfolk, where two of the nurses will be hired.

Antek Lejk, chief executive of north and south Norfolk CCGs, said: 'Supporting carers of people with dementia is a priority for the CCGs and is in line with our recently-adopted Supported Care Programme.

'It is important that CCGs can work together to deliver solutions to the public which best fits their need.'

North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb added: 'This is a positive step which could have a big impact on the quality of life of people living with dementia.'

The scheme does not extend to West Norfolk or Great Yarmouth and Waveney.