A CARE home could close after it was placed on the market and Essex County Council removed its support.

Attwoods Manor Care Home, on Mount Hill, Halstead, is rated “inadequate” by the Care Qual - ity Commission.

An inspection in July revealed the home contin - ues to fail its residents.

It has since been placed back into special meas - ures for a second time in a year.

Inspectors found staff were failing to protect medicine, drugs such as morphine are going miss - ing and not being reported and residents are being left in soiled clothing.

The provider has decided to sell the home.

It is not yet known whether it will be bought by another provider but steps are already being taken to find alternative accommodation for the remain - ing residents.

Attwoods Manor was first rated inadequate and given an admissions ban in September last year.

A follow up inspection in December found no improvements, but an inspection in April saw enough signs of promise for the home to have the ban lifted.

However, the latest inspection, revealed the home’s standards have slipped back, with the re - port stating the “service was not safe”

Sally Barter, a carer at Colne View Care Home, Halstead, pulled her dad out of Attwoods Manor after just four months after becoming concerned years earlier.

She said: “Every time you see a new report, you think how long can they get away with this.

“I moved him to Colne View and the improvement within a month was astonishing.

“The whole place was awful.”

The home had space for 68 residents but only had 38 were in the home at the time of the latest inspection.

This is understood to be partly due to a combination of the previous admissions ban and families removing residents due to the failings at the home.

Essex County Council is helping look for new homes for residents of Attwoods Manor Care Home and a full investigation is being carried out.

The council offer financial support to some of the residents in the home, but insisted it would help all residents and their relatives in the home.

A spokesman said: “We have given notice to Attwoods Manor, following the Care Quality Com - mission in June and the decision taken by the provider to sell the home.

"Our priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of all resi - dents.

“We are supporting residents and their relatives to consider all options, including a potential move to alternative accommoda - tion.”

A spokesman for the Care Quality Commission said: “We have taken action to protect the welfare of people using Attwoods Manor.

“We have been monitoring the home for some time, including carrying out inspections. We have also worked closely with the local authority and clini - cal commissioning group with regard to the care of people at the home throughout this time.

"A full report will be published in due course.”

Despite repeated requests no - body from the home was made available to comment on the situation regarding residents or the sale of the home off Mount Hill, Halstead.