Anxious parents of residents at Ingatestone's Trueloves Care Home fear it is again facing the threat of closure.

Their new worries stem from a meeting between them and representatives from The Shaftesbury Society, which owns the Trueloves Lane site, last week.

This in turn prompted a hastily convened further meeting last Saturday where parents told members of the Ingatestone and Fryerning Community Association they feared the home could once more face the axe.

The Association was at the forefront of the fight, 18 months ago, when the future of the care home for adults with learning difficulties, was first threatened.

They and others, including Brentwood and Ongar MP, Eric Pickles, and Ingatestone, Fryering and Mountnessing councillor, Richard Harrison, mounted a victorious fierce anti-closure campaign which may now have to be re-launched.

Ingatestone based parent, Terry Woods, whose son lives at Trueloves, said: 'At the first meeting we were told that The Shaftesbury Society is looking for the best way forward with Trueloves.'

Shaftesbury stress there will be a "regular meeting" whose attendees will include community representatives, parents of residents, Essex Social Services and a Brentwood District Council representative and that they "currently had no plans to sell Trueloves".

But Cllr Harrison, who is also President of the Ingatestone and Fryerning Community Association, has pledged they would fight again if any new plans to close the home were mooted.

He said: 'There is genuine and extreme concern from the parents. We have stood up to the Shaftesbury Society before and if we have too we will stand up to them again.

Eric Pickles, Brentwood and Ongar MP said: 'This would be a slap in the face of everyone who fought so hard to save the site from closure before.'

Malcolm Verde, Trueloves Project Development Manager said: 'We would like to reiterate that the residents of Trueloves House remain our highest priority and we are committed to finding the best long-term solutions for their care and support needs.'

Trueloves House has been a residential care home for adults with learning difficulties for the last 20 years and has around 30 residents.

Published Monday November 4, 2002

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