A home for polio sufferers has been given a late reprieve - but it may only be temporary.

The Lantern Hotel in Shelley Road, Worthing, was due to close at the end of the year, forcing 13 residents to move out.

Four have already found alternative accommodation but now the British Polio Fellowship, which runs the complex, has altered its decision.

The Lantern's management council now has a year to show the hotel is worth keeping.

The decision to close the facility, which in addition to residential care also provides holidays for up to 600 people a year, was overturned by a narrow majority at the annual meeting of the fellowship.

The change of heart was greeted with relief by the remaining residents, who have been unable to find other accommodation.

Bob Stephens, who serves on the committee and is also chairman of the Worthing and Sussex branch of the fellowship, said: "We have all read about the continuing problems of care homes shutting down and we are determined The Lantern will be the exception.

"We have got a year to turn it round. That doesn't mean making a profit but showing that something can be done.

"As a non profit-making charity we do get a large discount on our rates from Worthing Borough Council but we have to pay all other normal costs.

"We know we shall need extra help and we are launching a 'Save the Lantern' appeal.

"This money will be spent only at the Lantern on anything from refurbishment to paying specialist care staff wages."

The Fellowship had planned to close the home after claiming it was costing too much to run and fewer people needed the facilities as the number of polio sufferers declined.

Charity managers said the Lantern, opened 53 years ago, had received subsidies of £400,000 in recent years, which was "unsustainable".

For further information on the appeal, contact Bob Stephens at The Lantern Hotel, 54 Shelley Road, Worthing, BN11 4BX, or call 01903 877727.