THE future of a council-run dementia care home could be at risk if a private company doesn't step in to rescue it.

Only 50 per cent of the beds at Heathlands Residential Care Home in Wildridings are currently being used and the cost of bringing the time-worn building up to current standards has been branded 'economically unviable' by council officers.

The future of the home's 17 residents and the 84 people, who use the attached day centre each week, has been cast into doubt after Bracknell Forest Council began a consultation into the provision of the service.

Redundancies could also be in the pipeline for 38 permanent staff working at the home as there is 'limited scope for redeployment' within the care sector, a council report states.

Executive members of Bracknell Forest Council agreed to consult on the proposal to privatise the service last Tuesday.

However, it seems unlikely a private company would be willing to step in.

The lead member for adult social care, health and housing, Cllr Dale Birch, said: "No decision has yet been taken as to whether we will close Heathlands or not.

"Would someone else want to come in and buy it? The clear message we get is 'no'. Nobody in the private sector is going to come in and spend a fortune doing it up to get standards to what is required.

"I have no worries that if at the end of this consultation the decision is made to close it, residents will be rehomed where there is good quality support.

"There will be no drop in the service to any of the people in our care. That has been made very clear and I want to make that absolutely clear here."

Attendance at the Heathlands day centre, which cares for 12 elderly people a day, has dropped by 40 per cent over the past six months, while the cost of refurbishing the aged pipe work and roof is estimated at more than £450,000.

However, the council say they cannot afford to take on the work and that "there is an inherent risk that deterioration in a critical factor within the building may result in people being placed unacceptably at risk".