MORE than 30 elderly residents could be made homeless when another West Sussex care home is forced to close.

The owner of Martyn Lodge, in Henfield, says she cannot cope with the cost of new government accommodation guidelines and will have to sell up.

Up to 48 jobs could also be under threat in the move, latest in a long line of closures throughout the county.

We reported in December how a decision on the future of 17 old peoples' homes in West Sussex had been put off for six months.

The review of the homes was ordered last year when councillors voted to close four including The Hohve at Worthing, Sussex Lodge at Lancing, and Greenfields at Middleton-on-Sea, near Bognor.

A campaign to save the fourth home, Nyewood House, Bognor, is still being waged by campaigners.

And residents in Steyning are fighting to open another nursing home following the closure of Carisbrooke Lodge last year.

It is thought staff at the Henfield home have been told about the plans and the home could shut by March.

Tony Grantham, owner of Martyn Lodge, off High Street, said it will be difficult to re-house residents because other homes across the county are shutting for the same reason.

He added: "Needless to say, we are all very sad that such a situation should come to pass. We will be doing everything in our power to make sure our residents are removed with the minimum of discomfort."

"The saddest reflection on the circumstances is the difficulty we are experiencing in finding homes to take the residents we have on a local authority contract.

"There is a reluctance to take residents that do not pay a top-up on the basic rate paid by our local authorities because these are pitched at a totally uneconomic level.

And Denis Quittenton, clerk at Henfield Parish Council, said: "The parish council is always concerned at the loss of a facility to the community, particularly the distress and inconvenience caused to elderly residents.

"We do have other facilities for people in the village but I am sure they cannot cope with the numbers."

Under the Government's Fit for the Future scheme, the minimum size of residents' rooms and the stipulated number of qualified nursing staff have increased.

The National Care Homes Association says that as many as 85 per cent of private homes may have to close as a result of the extra business costs.

For Martyn Lodge to comply it would have to remove four of its rooms, which owner Tony Grantham claims is an unreasonable burden on costs.

The home's profits have, like most, fallen over the last five years and, it is claimed, it could not absorb any more costs when Fit for the Future comes into force later this year.

Mr Grantham added: "Not surprisingly this threat being held over the industry has collapsed values and made homes almost unsaleable."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.