Open days for the UK's first purpose-built dementia village will take place from next week.

They are for prospective residents, families and carers to see inside the homes and meet the team running the centre in Dover.

The open days are from 9am to 3pm on Tuesday, January 7 and 21 and February 4 and 25.

Harmonia Village, at Randolph Road, Dover, is due to fully open early in 2020 at a date to be confirmed.

The centre, behind the present Buckland Hospital, has six houses that look and feel like everyday homes.

Each have en-suite bedrooms for five residents that are equipped to meet people's needs.

Help is available 24 hours a day from nurses and carers.

The village hub has a café and regular activities for residents and the wider community.

Rooms there are available for local groups to hire.

There is also a guest house with six en-suite bedrooms so residents and their friends can have a break together in welcoming and supportive surroundings.

The project is to meet the growing need of care for people who have dementia.

In 2015 there were 850,000 people with the condtion in the UK and by 2025 it is estimated that this will have grown to nearly 1,150,000.

Dementia is said to cost the UK economy £26.3 billion a year.

The houses and land at Harmonia Village are owned by East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust and the £3.5 million project is supported by Kent County Council and European funding.

To book a place on an open day telephone 01304 222568 or email ekhuft.theharmoniavillage@nhs.net

Read more: All the latest news from Dover