THE son of an elderly woman cared for in an Oswaldtwistle home has defended it against a report.

Two unannounced inspections carried out at Church View Residential Home, in Church Street, revealed a catalogue of problems and breaches of regulation.

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They included rooms inspectors found to be ‘dirty’, ‘cold’, and ‘dimly lit’.

The home was branded ‘inadequate’ in four out of five key areas by the Care Quality Commission, and told it also needs to improve in the fifth.

But Norman Dawson, whose mum Stella Keeling has been living at Church View for two years, said he ‘would go in there tomorrow’ if he needed to and would pull his mother out if he had concerns.

The 73-year-old former transport manager, of Kingfisher Court, said: “The staff are out of this world, and it is brilliant. It’s not put on. I go in and they are chatting to her and giving her biscuits.

“I just completely disbelieve the report. It [the home] would not be full it was not so good. The staff are so loving and this has made them feel really bad.

“It’s demoralising and it’s such silly things too – leaving the top off the toothpaste in one room.”

Two social care inspectors and an expert called at the home twice in March.

Their report read: “Some bedrooms required cleaning. One had an opened toothpaste tube left on the sink, and a shower room was noted to have a dirty soap tray.

“We saw windows were dirty, and the manager told us these had not been cleaned recently.”

The report continued: “We looked in 26 bedrooms and identified in 12, pillows needed to be replaced.

“The manager told us they had purchased new pillows but could not explain why these had not yet been given to people.”

Another resident told inspectors they had to climb under the covers in their room to keep warm. After being challenged, the manager told inspectors a boiler needed to be replaced.

The report added: “People living in the home were happy with the care. However, some visiting relatives expressed concerns .”

Management at the home, which is run by People in Care Ltd , said they were ‘disappointed’ with the rating and were ‘working hard’ to address problems.