The owners of an Eastbourne care home have given residents a month to leave, saying they can't afford to meet Government guidelines.

Mick and Linda Ryder have owned Michel House, in Upperton Road, for four years and have 12 elderly residents there.

The new guidelines, which come into force in April, demand care home owners install lifts, make all rooms en-suite, take out chair lifts, provide ramp entrances and widen doorways.

The Ryders say they cannot afford the estimated £30,000 cost of updating the Victorian town house.

Mrs Ryder said: "We know we will have to close. Working hard is not enough. We will have to close in four weeks time and there is nothing we can do about it.

"We can't find places for the residents here - the social services will have to do that. The private ones will be okay but some of them are going to be moved around from home to home.

"Mr Average doesn't care unless he has to find a care home for his mother. We are so defeated by this."

The home is due to shut on November 11 and its elderly residents face an uncertain future, including Eric Gordon, 92, who has lived in Michel House for the last 18 years.

Mrs Ryder said: "He has no family, no one to take care of him. This is his home."

She said at least 13 other privately owned care homes in the Eastbourne area would also close by April next year.