Families of people living with dementia in a north Norfolk care home have been told their loved ones will need somewhere new to live because the home is shutting down at short notice.

Mead Lodge Residential Care in Crown Road, Buxton, is due to close on Wednesday next week (August 14), but the daughter of an 89-year-old woman there says she wasn't told until Tuesday night.

Trisha Howes, from North Walsham, said the impending closure had placed her and families of other residents in an "awful" predicament.

She said: "It's terrible. I have run around other homes but there's not much availability for dementia care, and it's such a lovely home as well. You can't put dementia patients just anywhere."

Someone who works at the care home, who asked not to be named, said Mead Lodge was closing due to an as-yet unpublished negative report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

He said: "There have been three in the past 12 months and the results have been good. Then they came last month and they didn't like what they saw."

The worker said the CQC had also placed a 'bed block' on the premises, meaning they could not take in new residents for a period of up to 2.5 years. He said: "If you cannot accept new residents there's no point in having a care home."

The worker said the closure would mean the loss of 28 jobs, and the home's 18 residents would have to be moved.

He said Norfolk County Council had been asked to temporarily take over running the care home so it could remain open, but that the council declined to do this.

A spokesman from the council said: "We have been informed by the owner of Mead Lodge that it is their intention is to close the care home in mid-August.

"We are sad to hear this news, as a privately run business it is of course their decision.

"Norfolk County Council is working closely with the provider to ensure that we continue to meet the care and accommodation needs of those residents that we currently fund, and those who privately fund their own care to identify alternative arrangements, should they require our support."