PLANS have been revealed for a soon-to-be redundant care home to be developed into extra care accommodation.

Brackenthwaite care home on Senhouse Street, Whitehaven, will shut in spring when the newly built Copeland Care Home opens on the former Sekers site on Cleator Moor Road.

The £6 million facility also replaces Dentholme, Castle Mount and Pow Beck care homes.

And now the county council, which is behind the plans, confirmed it is exploring the potential for the Brackenthwaite site to be used for extra care housing development. A consultation is also underway into plans to close the Cross Keys Day Centre, which operates from the Brackenthwaite facility. However the authority said the needs of the day centre users will be reassessed and alternative support found locally.

A council spokesman said: “Brackenthwaite residential care home was built many decades ago and as a building/environment is no longer fit for the purpose of delivering modern care services to people with complex needs. The decision was made by the county council in February 2017 to build new state of the art facilities which meet all modern care and building standards to ensure that the county council can continue to deliver high quality care.”