Elderly residents of a Sussex rest home have been given four weeks to find somewhere else to live.

Eighteen pensioners at Swallowfield Rest Home in Steyning were told yesterday afternoon the privately-run home would close on February 3.

It gives them less than a month to find alternative accommodation.

Owner Tanay Dumsdane said the reasons for the closure were personal and refused to say if the site at College Hill had been sold.

She said the residents had been given the amount of notice legally required and she had sent confidential letters to relatives on Friday, before announcing the decision to staff and residents yesterday.

She said: "We did this to give relatives the opportunity to be there when the news was broken to our residents so they can have the support of their families."

One relative, who asked not to be named, said the residents should have been informed of the situation much earlier.

He said: "On Monday the residents find out they're homeless and out on the street from February 3.

"That is some New Year's present.

"Everybody who works at the home will be out of a job too.

"The home is full to capacity. All those people will have to find somewhere to live in the next few weeks and I don't know if Steyning will be able to accommodate them all.

"I think this situation has been pre-empted by new requirements being introduced for toilet and washing facilities.

"This will happen more and more as owners take the easy option and elderly people will end up paying the price."