A £100,000 makeover means one elderly care home in Rossendale now boasts the sort of quality normally reserved for a luxury hotel.

The 35 flats and four two-bedroom homes at Brandwood, in Staghills Road, Newchurch, were the pilot site for a new ‘independent living’ scheme run by housing group Regenda.

Rossendale Council leader Alyson Barnes, who attended the opening of the new-look homes, said: “Far more people do take the decision to stay in their own home, rather than move into sheltered accommodation.

“Given the pressure on adult social care budgets, clearly the more that providers like Regenda can do to support them, the better.”