PENSIONERS at a Bromsgrove nursing home will be forced out just four days before Christmas, it has been revealed.

Twenty-three residents at the privately-run Leahyrst Nursing Home, in Greenhill, Blackwell have been asked to find alternative accommodation, after the proprietor revealed he is facing bankruptcy.

Last month, residents received a letter giving them four weeks notice and although nine pensioners have found alternative accommodation, 14 are still waiting to be re-homed.

Lydiate Ash resident Pat Powers, whose 95-year-old mother, Florence Field, has lived at the home for three years, said: "It has been a very worrying time for my mother and I.

"In my opinion, this is just another nursing home to go to the wall as a direct result of under funding.

"The Government want to cut down on bed-blocking but how can they when there is nowhere to place people?"

More than three quarters of the residents are funded by either Worcester or Birmingham social services.

She added: "My mother has received excellent treatment at Leahyrst, along with the other residents - she has never wanted for anything.

"Stephen Lees, the proprietor, and his staff have really tried, yet have failed due to years of under funding from social services."

She has since found alternative accommodation for her mother at a nursing home in Alvechurch, near Bromsgrove, although she said her mother was very anxious about moving from her home.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said: "We are working very hard to make alternative arrangements for any of our residents at the home."

No one from Leahyrst was available for comment as the Advertiser/Messenger went to press.