A HEXHAM care home is preparing to close after being placed in special measures by the Care Quality Commission.

An inspection in January at King’s Cottage residential home saw the service rated inadequate, while concerns were raised about its staffing levels numbers and the subsequent impact on service.

Although the full report has yet to be made public, it is understood that owners Dave and Alison Murray have been working with the CQC and Northumberland County Council to put together an action plan of improvements.

However, they say the issue of securing more permanent staff can not be solved and told residents at the 26-room care home on Allendale Road of the decision to close on Tuesday.

“It is a devastating time. We are absolutely committed to the welfare of our residents and although we have made every effort over a long period of time to find experienced staff, we have had to accept we can no longer go on,” Mr Murray said, in a statement released through law firm Sintons.

“The CQC report acknowledged the efforts Alison and I have made to try and limit the impact the staffing problems have had on residents, and they were right to say that by us working very long hours in junior roles within the home, we were not properly fulfilling our roles as managers.

“It is with great regret we have had to close the home. But we feel we are left with no choice.”

The couple have run the home, which provides residential and dementia care, since 2007 and admit they have relied heavily on agency staff to operate.

A full report of the inspection’s findings are expected to be published in July. While a date for the closure of the home has not been set, the Murrays say the priority is the welfare of the remaining 18 residents and when they can be moved.

The news of the closure comes as a report revealed more than a quarter of care homes in the UK are in danger of going out of business within three years, because of a squeeze on profits caused by the imposition of the National Living Wage and local authority spending cuts.