A hospice is developing a service to care for terminally ill patients in their homes.

The aim of the Martlets At Home project, organised by the Hove-based Martlets Hospice, is to give people the choice of spending their final days in familiar surroundings instead of residential care.

A team of nurses will be on hand to provide round-the-clock support.

Tracy Thomas has been appointed to oversee the three-year pilot scheme. She will spend the next three to four months setting up the project and recruiting eight nurses.

The programme will start by looking after three patients but Mrs Thomas hopes it will be extended.

She said: "We are starting off small because we don't want to make promises we might not be able to keep. It would not be fair to the patient.

"As we progress, we will be working on ways to add to the number of patients we care for."

Patients will initially be placed on the project's books for five days at a time, after which they will be reassessed.

If they have had a relapse and stabilised again, they will go back to the treatment they were getting from their district or Macmillan nurse.

If they are still poorly they will stay in the care of the hospice staff.

Mrs Thomas said the service could help up to 150 patients a year in the Brighton and Hove area. Patients will be referred by their GP or nurse.