FIVE severely disabled adults were kicked out of their care home this week after just three weeks’ notice.

Mark Best, 52, Mark Wareham, 50, Megan Holroyd, 47, and two others lived at Scope’s Shapland Close, off Wilton Road.

The charity — accused of “catastrophic failure” by South Wiltshire’s Mencap chairman — closed the bungalows on Tuesday, with the loss of nine jobs.

The two Marks, who had both lived there for more than 23 years, were moved to Netley Abbey, near Southampton.

Megan went to another Scope home, Roman House in Basingstoke, on Monday.

All three have complex and profound disabilities and require round-the-clock care.

Both homes are about an hour’s drive away, and their parents fear this will be their families’ first Christmas apart.

Mark Best’s mum Hazel, 76, lost her husband last year and cannot drive. She said the past three weeks searching for a suitable home for her son had been a nightmare, describing Scope’s decision to close so quickly as “coldhearted and callous”.

Hazel worries that Mark will be unsettled living so far away — she visits him twice a week and he goes home for tea every fortnight.

“I’m the constant thing in his life,” she said.

“He’s very upset by change.”

Megan Holroyd’s mother Merrin said her daughter had never spent Christmas without her mum and dad.

She said: “We are very concerned. She should be with us.”

Every year, Merrin takes Megan to the cathedral carol service. But that family tradition may be over now Megan lives in Basingstoke — too far for her parents, both 76, to pick her up and take her home.

Shirley Wareham and Hazel Best went to see their sons on Tuesday, before they were driven off in red minibuses, but decided it would be too upsetting to stay and watch them go.

“After 23-years of living together, it feels like a very sad break-up of a family,” said Shirley.

“It’s been upsetting for the staff as well. Some of them have been there a long time. I’m devastated.”

All three families hope the moves will be temporary — that they can find somewhere permanent in Salisbury. Wiltshire Council says “real progress” is being made to find the residents long-term homes as close to their families as possible.

Of the 14 permanent Shapland Close staff, nine lost their jobs, five stayed with Scope. Two casual staff remain and three quit.

Many suspect Scope plans to sell Shapland Close to developers, but the charity says the future of the buildings – paid for with £350,000 of local fundraisers’ money – has not been decided.

Scope boss James Watson- O’Neill said standards had dropped below “very high” expectations and Scope would not compromise on care quality.

“We know the closure of this service has been difficult for everyone who lived there, their families and our staff,” he said. “We are making sure everyone settles into their new home.”

The other two residents – originally from Dorset and Hampshire — moved to Trowbridge and Basingstoke.

Cllr John Walsh said he was “very angry” at Scope’s “complete dereliction of duty” in only giving three weeks’ notice.

He thanked “heroes” at Wiltshire Council and Mencap who had risen to the occasion to sort out alternative accommodation.

He said: “I hope Scope will learn from this disaster and not inflict distress and worry on other communities.”

South Wilts Mencap chairman Nigel Afford said Shapland Close was a “vital element in Salisbury’s care infrastructure that cannot easily be replaced,” adding there should have been “contingency measures to mitigate catastrophic failure”.

Mr Afford said Scope had a duty to report doubts about the future viability of Shapland Close, and alarm bells should have been ringing after its poor inspection report in May. More routine monitoring might have helped.

He said the impact of Scope’s failures would be felt for “months, perhaps years, to come”. The debacle would not be resolved until the residents were rehoused “in close proximity to their families”.