Your views can be heard on the proposed closure of Dentholme care home in Cleator Moor at two meetings next month.

Cumbria County Council’s plans also include spending £6m on a new 60-bed home in Whitehaven, specialising in caring for those with dementia and complex needs.

However, the plans also propose the closure of Brackenthwaite and Pow Beck homes in Whitehaven and Castle Mount in Egremont which, along with Dentholme, can currently care for a total of 140 residents.

The plans are separate from the Success Regime’s proposals to close community hospital beds.

The proposals were discussed at a Cleator Moor Town Council meeting last week.

Town councillor Charles Moores expressed concerns about the reduced number of beds.

He said: “We’ve got an ageing population and we are cutting bed numbers again. It seems silly to me, to be cutting bed numbers when there is going to be a bigger and bigger need for them.”

Coun Morgan responded, saying that none of the homes being earmarked for closure were at full capacity.

The new Whitehaven home would be fitted with en suite bathrooms and specially adapted rooms, supported by communal areas, on site restaurant and outdoor space.

The move follows a similar initiative in Barrow.

Coun Morgan added: “We are trying to do the best we can with the resources. I’ve been to the new home in Barrow and it looks and feels like a proper home.”

The meetings will be held at Cleator Moor Library on November 9 from 1.30pm to 4pm and Howgill Family Centre on Birks Road, from November 17, from 10am until 12.30pm.