THE fight is on to save a care home for disabled people set to close at the end of the year.

Mental health charity Scope, which runs the Douglas Arter Centre in Odstock Road, wants to shut it down, saying the kind of residential care offered there is “old fashioned”.

If the closure goes ahead, families of the nine severely disabled residents will have to find them somewhere else to live, and 39 jobs are at risk.

All the residents have mental and physical disabilities and many are unable to talk, yet Scope insists they should “move away from institutionalised care” and have “greater choice and control over the services they receive”.

On Friday, Scope’s director of transformation, James Watson-O’Neill, met with residents’ families and announced a consultation will begin in July.

But the families say they plan to fight the proposal, arguing that the Douglas Arter Centre offers the best possible care for their loved ones.

“The residents’ parents are extremely stressed and distressed that this is happening,” said Merrin Holroyd, whose husband Nick worked at the Douglas Arter Centre for seven years and whose daughter Megan attends a Scope-run day centre in Salisbury.

“Many are elderly and were always comforted to know their children were well looked after by the wonderful staff at the Douglas Arter Centre. They are part of a family there.

“Most can’t talk, let alone discuss their care needs. They are 100 per cent dependent.

“This has come as a terrible shock and something needs to be done to protect these vulnerable people.”

The group is planning to launch a protest campaign and has approached Salisbury MP John Glen to ask for his support.

The Douglas Arter Centre is home to disabled adults aged between 30 and 70, many of whom have lived there for several years. It was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1984, when Prince Charles was overheard saying: “this is a home for life”.

“The Care Quality Commission gave the Douglas Arter Centre a glowing report following its most recent inspection.

The staff, residents, families and people in the local community don’t want it to close but they seem determined to plough on anyway,” added Mrs Holroyd. “We fear it might not be much of a consultation more a fait accompli.”

Scope is closing ten care homes across the country.

The charity says it will work with families and Wiltshire Council to find suitable alternative accommodation for residents if the closure goes ahead.