A CARE home and a drugs rehabilitation centre in Staplehurst, near Maidstone, is to close with the loss of 40 jobs.

A nursing crisis is forcing the closure of Iden Manor, which has operated in the small town village for 70 years, combining a residential care home, a women-only rehab centre and convent.

Sister Rosemary, director of the addiction centre - the only one of its kind in Kent - described the news as "upsetting and sad".

She will be among the staff to lose their jobs. She said: "Residents are very, very upset. We are unique service but there's no future for us. The decision is not reversible at this stage."

The centre, in Cranbrook Road, is privately run by Christian Charity the Good Shepherd Sisters. There are currently seven elderly residents in the care home and 25 women attending a six-month residential addiction course. Fees for four of the addicts attending the rehabilitation centre are paid for by Kent County Council.

The convent, home to 26 sisters, will remain open, although the nursing home will close by the end of this month and the addiction centre by the end of June.

Sister Rosemary said there had been no response to advertisements for nurses and that the centre could no longer comply with Government legislation stating that by law it must provide 24-hour nursing cover for elderly residents. She added: "We just can't fulfil the requirements of the law under nursing home legislation anymore."

She added: "The shortage of nurses has a knock-on effect on the counselling side of things. One side supports and sustains the other and because of the nature of the work we require both to work to keep going."

Sister Rosemary said she blamed high housing prices in the area and the Government's NHS policies.

The 40 jobs to go include five addiction counsellors, full-time and part-time nurses and auxiliary nurses, domestic, administration and domestic staff.

KCC Social Services spokeswoman Natalie Yost said: "We are concerned because there are no other women-only rehabilitation centres in Kent."The nearest centre of its kind is as far away as Norfolk."