A petition has been set up after it was announced that a dementia care home in Hextable will close.

Families were informed last week that the Honeyfield dementia care home, owned and managed by Avante Partnership, will close in March 2014.

It will mean that more than 60 residents at the centre in Rowhill Road, Hextable, will have to move somewhere else, with the possibility of staff being out of a job.

The petition, started on the government website, states: “This is their home. They have dementia, they are settled, they know the staff, and they are happy where they are.”

The closure is as a result of a poor inspection earlier this year. The inspection, back in May by the Care Quality Commission, found standards in care, safety, cleanliness and staffing fell below the expected level.

Chief operating officer Mark Lloyd said: “It is clear that improvements are not happening quickly enough and Avante Care and Support has taken the difficult decision to close the home in 2014.

“The 71-bed home was built several decades ago and had been earmarked for future redevelopment because it is no longer fit for purpose and would now require a level of expenditure, which is not economical.

“An Avante Senior Management Team has been set up to lead the closure process with KCC colleagues. Each service user will be re-assessed to determine the most appropriate longer-term options for them and this will be done with the full involvement of their families and advocates.

“It is with great sadness that we have made the decision to close Honeyfield care home.

However, the safety and wellbeing of our service users is of the utmost importance to our care and support service and the heart of our work, therefore closing the home has become the only suitable option.”

A man who attended the meeting, who does not want to be named, said there was “considerable outcry”.

He told the Messenger: “It has to be said that the families have no issues with the standard of care for their relatives and have been taken by surprise by this drastic course of action, especially given that Avante is a registered charity. It is showing a complete lack of care for its customers.”