Two brothers are demanding answers after their elderly mother suffered a massive stroke and was told the care home she hoped to spend the rest of her life in was closing.

Grandmother Eileen Berry, 83, moved into St Martin’s care home in Larkfield in November 2014 on what her family believed was a “home for life” basis.

But less than a year later she is living in another care home and is severely brain damaged and unable to speak after suffering the stroke in June.

Son Simon Berry, 57, from Aylesford, and his 60-year-old brother Nick became concerned about their mother’s care when they discovered tablets on a window sill, beside a chair and inside a radiator in her room.

Fearing she was not taking her stroke prevention medication properly, the family set up CCTV in Mrs Berry’s room.

Three clips taken in May and June, seen by the Kent Messenger, show a member of care home staff entering Mrs Berry’s room and chatting to her before handing her tablets and a cup of water.

On two occasions, Mrs Berry’s lips and jaw are still moving when the employee leaves the room, which the family believes means the tablets are still in her mouth.

On the third occasion, on Sunday, June 7, above, Mrs Berry takes a tablet out of her mouth and puts it out of shot.

“We’d like them to acknowledge that what they did was wrong and apologise” - Simon

The brothers’ other complaint revolves around their belief The Abbeyfield Kent Society, which owns St Martin’s, knew the home was due to close before Mrs Berry moved in but failed to tell them.

A Freedom of Information request, sent to the Homes and Communities Agency, revealed Abbeyfield found out on Tuesday, July 22, 2014 – more than three months before Mrs Berry moved in – that it would receive £4,474,650 under the government’s Affordable Housing Programme to build alternative accommodation, replacing St Martin’s, in Martin Square, and Abbeyfield Greensted in The Orpines, Wateringbury, which is also closing.

Abbeyfield submitted the funding bid on Friday, April 18 the same year, the HCA said.

The closures were announced in May this year and St Martin’s is set to close in March 2016.

Simon said: “I feel a combination of sadness and anger.

"Putting your mum in a care home is one of the most traumatic things you can do. It’s all so negative and sad.

“We’d like them to acknowledge that what they did was wrong and apologise.”

During the two years before she moved into St Martin’s, Mrs Berry lost her husband of 63 years, had a heart attack, was treated for bowel cancer, had a minor stroke and started to exhibit signs of early stage dementia.

Laurence Fowler-Stevens, director of corporate services at The Abbeyfield Kent Society, said he could not comment while the matter was with solicitors. However, a letter from the care home’s lawyers to the Berry family’s solicitor, seen by the Kent Messenger, said Abbeyfield denies the allegations.

The Care Quality Commission, which inspects care homes, was also unable to comment but a Kent County Council spokesman confirmed the authority was investigating the complaint involving Eileen Berry’s medication.

She said: “This has recently been brought to our attention as a safeguarding issue and we are working with the family and Abbeyfield St Martin’s to make sure this is robustly responded to by the care home.”