WISPERS Park care home in Haslemere is to close and has served notice on its elderly residents, many of whom are frail, giving them just over a month to find new homes.

Operators Orchard Care say the home is to close for “extensive improvement works, which are expected to take a considerable amount of time”, but there will be a new care provider once the building work is complete.

The 55-bed home providing general residential and nursing care opened in May 2013, on the site of the old Wispers girls’ school.

It is part of the luxury Wispers Park retirement village which opened in 2012 – the 58 apartments on the 25 acre site are privately owned and are unaffected.

Bruce Pearson, whose 91-year-old mother Nancy has lived in the care home since she moved out of her own home in Godalming, said his mum was upset at being “evicted”. She was given 30 days’ notice to quit and he is now looking for new accommodation for her.

He said: “A lot of people are affected by this, not only the residents, but also staff, and are wondering what is going on.

“We have been told the home is closing for refurbishment but it only opened two-and-a-half years ago.

A Wispers Park spokesman said residents and relatives were told last Tuesday. “Wispers Park will be closing shortly to allow for proposed and extensive improvement works, which are expected to take a considerable amount of time,” he said. “To ensure the safety and comfort of our residents, the owners feel it is necessary to close. We appreciate this will be a difficult time for residents, relatives and staff and deeply regret this situation.

“We are working closely with residents, their families and Surrey County Council, to ensure a smooth transition to new homes and to support staff to find alternative positions.

“Orchard Care has made the decision not to return as care provider once the building work is complete.

“However, the care home will be reopening after the work is completed.”

The spokesman said the home was expected to close by the end of March as long as all residents have been safely moved.

It currently has 17 residents, some of whom are independent but some have dementia and nursing care needs. Although most are privately funded, Surrey County Council funds some of the places and is trying to find alternative homes.

A council spokesman said its social care team had been made aware of the closure and was carrying out individual assessments of residents to find suitable homes to met their needs.

Active residents of the nursing home have access to the retirement village’s “country club” which includes a bar, bistro, gymnasium, spa, library, croquet lawn and tennis court.

The retirement village is situated on the site of the old boarding school and the main building, Oak Hall, was commissioned in 1910 by the famous Scottish artist James Coutts Michie who used it as his country retreat.

Wispers School closed as a girls’ independent boarding and day school in 2008 and developers converted the former school, knocked down some of the buildings on the site and built replacements to form a luxury retirement village.

• An inspection by The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in October 2014 found the care home was “inadequate” and was told to make urgent improvements. During an unannounced inspection, inspectors found the service was failing to provide care which was safe, effective, caring, or responsive to people’s needs, and was not well led.

As a result, the provider was issued with two warning notices. But after a further inspection in March last year, the CQC found improvements had been made, recommendations met and the residents were now “safe”.